The Academy
by Fireflies of the Rain Forest
Summary: AU-fic... Soap, Ghost and Roach was in a special school for those who possessed supernatural power. Now, the adventures shall begin... This isn't slash..  Warning inside... This is my first fic in this fandom though...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer : I own nothing except the plot.**

**Warning : This is an AU fic, where I tried to gather up the characters from Modern Warfare series and throw them into this setting and see how it would go. You see, this isn't slash ( I think) and in this fic, Roach and Ghost are half-brother. Also, aware of grammatical errors that may occurs, since I don't have beta-reader. And also, perhaps you will find some OOC-ness, and I'm sorry for that but it's a necessity (sometimes) in order to make this thing done.**

**A/N : This is my first fanfiction in this fandom and also my first multi-chaptered story, so I'm sorry if I make some mistakes. Feel free to point it out. I appreciate the review (even if you just say "Good enough") but flames would be use to lit a candle in the middle of blackout.**

**Chapter 1 : The Academy**

Warfare Academy was for those who had supernatural powers. Divided into seven years, this boarding school designed for eleven years old students until seventeen years old. This school also had five divisions to classify the student's ability; in order to make them learnt how to use their powers properly.

The first division is Super-human Divisions. This division was designed for those who had a unique power in their human bodies. It was including Super-power, Super-speed, and also Super-senses and the brain's super abilities.

The second division is Animal-ability Divisions. This division was designed for those who had a special abilities which similar to animal. Just like Super-senses in Super-human Divisions, this one included the abilities of Super-eyesight (just like hawk) and another abilities, this also including the ability to morph into an animal.

The third division is Elemental Division. The division was designed for those who could control the element of nature, just like fire bending, water bending, et cetera. Most of the students in this division were good combatants.

The fourth division is Psychic Division. This division included those who had psychic ability, just like clairvoyance, telekinesis, and another Psychic ability. This is the most popular division since most of the students had this kind of ability.

The last division called Unclassified Ability. Actually, this isn't a real division since there were very few people with this category. The people in this division usually had weird abilities, such as Ability Annihilation, Fusion Ability (mixed ability from each category) and another indescribable ability.

The academy itself could be seen as an orphanage, since most of the students already disowned or their parents were already dead. But they lived happily in the dormitories as a big family. This is their story, and their adventures began here…

John "Soap" MacTavish groaned a bit when he finally woke up from his deep slumber. He looked at his clock when suddenly his eyes widened. Great! He almost late for breakfast! Mumbling things to himself, Soap quickly dressed and prepared for school. That was why he hated being alone in his dormitory room, no one to wake him up, just like this time and he had enough of it. He would ask Gaz, his Dorm-head to move into another room. But Gaz would probably refuse his idea though, since the rooms were already full of people.

"Soap, you're late," said Gaz when Soap finally appeared in the Dormitory Main Hall for breakfast. "What took you so long?" asked the man. Gaz was in his sixth year now, and a very good student of academy. He, just like Soap, belonged to Elemental Division, but in a different grade. Soap was in the fourth year. If Soap could do fire-bending, then Gaz could do weather-control. He could control the weather, just like rain and storm even he could control something like air pressure, temperature, and air dampness.

"Blame the alarm. It isn't my fault that I have _no one_ to wake me up when I'm late," said Soap.

Gaz smiled when he heard Soap's words.

"Good things for you mate. Now you will have two roommates!" said Gaz cheerfully. "Mr. Price just contacted me that there will be two new students in our beloved academy. Both boys. One will be in the same year as you and the other one would be a year younger. Since we don't have much room in the third year rooms, he will also have you as his roommate."

"Finally," said Soap. Usually, each room in their dormitory would have one room for five students. But three wasn't that bad though. "When will I meet them?"

"Probably this afternoon, I don't really know. Just meet me and Price in the club room, okay?"

Gaz was referring to the club that they joined. The club called TF-141. Actually, it was a chemistry club, but somehow the member changed it into something like troubleshooter, though they never had a real case before. It was just a club for relaxing and doing your hobbies without any interference. That's why Soap chose to join this useless club. And Price is their supervisor.

"Roger that."

"I can see that you're in a good mood today, Soap," said Toad, grinning at his friends.

Soap, Archer, Toad, Ozone and Chemo was gathering around the school yard to spend their free time. Archer quietly chewed at his meal since it was their lunch time. Soap already finished and he was waiting for the other to finish their meal. Just like Soap, his friends also possessed a special ability. Archer is clairvoyance; he could see through things. As for Toad, he had the ability of frog, including long tongue, incredible ability to jump, and another ability that he would gladly use if you asked him to. Ozone belonged to Psychic Division, just like Archer, with his ability of Empathy, an ability to read another person's emotion state and even sent emotion to other people. As for Chemo, he was in Super-human Division with his ability Super-strength. Another person in their group is Scarecrow, which also belonged to Super-human division with his ability regeneration and healing. But right now, he was stuck with Nikolai, Price's assistant to help him in his workshop.

"Of course," said Soap. "Finally, I have a roommate," said Soap. "Now, I don't have to worry about Gaz would scold me because I'm late for breakfast or forget to lock my room. Really, Gaz can be a pain in the arse!"

"Too right, mate," said Archer. "I wonder which division those new students belong to."

"Probably Psychic Division, since it's the most common ability..." said Ozone. "Or maybe in Super-human Division?"

Soap sighed. "Whatever it is, I don't really care. Guys, I'm heading to the club room now. Wanna join?"

"I'll pass. Not like you, I almost failed Fulani's subject," said Toad.

"I'll go with you," said Archer. "It's a best choice to skip Zakhaev's class."

"Price will be mad..." said Chemo.

"Who cares?"

Soap stared at these two new roommates. One is a weird boy, wearing a skull-painted balaclava with a dark red sunglass hiding his eyes. Beside him, a brown haired boy with slightly pale skin stood close beside him.

"I'm Simon Riley, but please call me Ghost. And this is my brother, Gary Sanderson. We called him Roach," said the masked boy.

"Brother?" asked Soap. They have different last name though.

"Half-brother," said the brown-haired boy, smiled politely at Soap. "We had different father."

"Ah, I see..." said Soap. "Well, the name's John MacTavish but people called me Soap."

"Nice to meet you," said Ghost.

Soap observed the brothers for a while. Ghost hadn't taken of his mask ever since he got into their room. Soap was wondering why he used it in the first place. Ah, well... Most of the students in this academy were weird, so using balaclava could be counted as normal attire. A loud thud snapped him back to reality, as he saw the younger boy, Roach; stumble upon the rug on the floor which made all his belonging flew all over the place.

"You okay, mate?" asked Soap, rushing to help the boy.

"I-I'm fine," said Roach. Before Soap could react, Ghost already kneeled beside his brother and helped him with his stuffs.

"Don't worry about that. He's just so clumsy sometimes," said Ghost. Carefully, he helped Roach gathering his things and set it out on the small table beside the bed. Soap just smiled at the interaction between these brothers. Maybe he could get good roommates now.

**I need review in order to continue this story ... please, gimme review... **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. The characters belong to Activision and Infinity Ward.**

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! It's sooooo amazing to boast up my muse! *giggling like crazy* Anyways... Just after reading those beautiful words of you guys, something popped up in my mind and now... HERE WE GO!**** Oh, by the way.. I'm still in search for a beta-reader... Is there anyone out there who'd like to b****e**** beta-reader for this story? If you do, please, PM me...**

**Warning : I forgot to mention this in the first chapter, but this story may contains some female OC (since this is a school for boys and girls) but not too many of them and I think they won't get too much role since actually, I don't really like OCs in fanfiction...**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Ghost and Roach<strong>

The sun rose from the east, smeared golden rays onto the dormitory buildings. Soap opened his eyes, and he realized that he wasn't alone in this room. He remembered about his two new roommates. What were they names again? Oh, yeah, Ghost and Roach; Simon Riley and Gary Sanderson. Soap's eyes cracked open slowly when he took his surroundings and looked at the clock. He smiled to himself. Now, he didn't have to worry about being late for breakfast, and Gaz wouldn't throw any question at him today. What a great day.

"Awake yet?" asked Ghost. He still wore his creepy balaclava and his dark red sunglasses. Soap shot up from his bed and quickly prepared to take his breakfast. "Hey, you want us to wait for you?" asked Ghost.

"No, you don't have to. I'm fine on my own," said Soap, placed all his books into a backpack.

"It's okay; we'll wait for you since we don't know the way to the Dining Hall. Haven't got a chance to wondering around though," said Roach kindly.

Five minutes later, Soap, Ghost and Roach headed down towards the Dormitory Main Hall to get their breakfast. All the students watched them, especially since there was Ghost who wore a creepy balaclava. Even since they met, Soap never had a chance to see Ghost's face. He slept after Soap was sleep and woke up before him. No wonder he didn't have a chance to look what it was behind that balaclava.

"Hey, guys," Soap greeted his friends on their table.

"Morning, Soap. It's really rare occasion to see you wake up so early, mate," said Archer. "And these are...?"

"Simon Riley, but call me Ghost," said Ghost. "And this is my brother, Gary Sanderson. You can call him Roach."

"Before you ask, we're half-brother," said Roach.

"Nice to meet you," said Toad. "I'm Toad. This is Archer, Ozone, Chemo, and Scarecrow. We are in the fourth year, like Soap. Are you in the fourth year too, Ghost?"

"Yeah. But Roach is in the third year," said Ghost.

Both the new students and Soap took a seat on their table. As always, Gaz would wondering around the table to make sure that no one made a problem while getting their breakfast. He only gave Soap a short comment because finally, he could show up just in time and told him that they should celebrate it in the club house this afternoon. Gaz handed Ghost and Roach their schedules. Ghost would have the same class as Soap for the first and second period. As for Roach, he would have his own schedule for third year students.

"Roach, you can ask James Ramirez over there about all your classes since you guys in the same year," said Gaz. The capped boy patted their shoulder in a friendly manner. "If there's something that you want to ask, don't hesitate to ask me or your friends over here. And for Roach, you should go to Price's office now since you will be placed in different Division from your brother," said Gaz. "As for Ghost, Soap will accompany you to your Division because you are in the same place."

"Thanks, Gaz," said Roach. He stood up and smiled at his brother and their new companions. "Well guys, I guess I should get going now. I'll see you at lunch?" asked Roach towards Ghost. Ghost nodded. After that, the brown haired boy started to search for James Ramirez and asked him if he wanted to accompany him to Price's office.

Ghost watched his brother with a concerned look. Roach was a friendly guy, and he could easily befriend with anybody. But that was the problem. Roach clumsiness and unluckiness always caused a lot of trouble for that brown-haired boy. He could even stumble upon his own feet when walking on a flat surface. That was why, Ghost had to put more effort in order to safe his little brother from ridiculous danger.

Soap noticed it, and he could understand why the masked boy always worried about his younger brother. But something about these brothers bothered him. Soap knew it wasn't his place to stick his nose into other people's business, but they were his roommate, and that's why the thought kept bugging him.

"So, you're going to Elemental Division?" asked Chemo.

"Yeah. Mr. Price just told me yesterday that I will attend his Self-Development class today. Which Divisions are you guys belong?" asked Ghost.

"I'm from Psychic Division, with Archer over here. My ability is Empathy while Archer is Clairvoyance. Toad is a Frog-Boy, so he belongs to Animal-ability Divisions. Chemo belongs to Super-human Division with his so-called Super-strength alongside Scarecrow with his Regeneration and Healing ability," explained Ozone. Ghost nodded and tried to remember the names and the Divisions where his "new friends" belonged to.

"If you're in Elemental Division, which Division does your brother belong to?" asked Scarecrow.

Suddenly Ghost fell silent. Should he tell these people Roach's ability? But when he saw their interested face, Ghost could do nothing but sighed.

"He doesn't belong to any Division," said Ghost quietly.

"He's an Unclassified?" asked Archer.

"Kind of," said Ghost. "Shall we go now? I don't want to be late to my first class..."

"Sure things mate," said Soap. "See you at lunch, guys..."

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><p>Soap spent his day just like he always did. The only difference was he got Ghost's company, since the masked boy didn't know much about the academy. Soap gladly showed him around the school building. The Mohawk boy really wanted to ask Ghost several questions to fulfil his curiosity, but somehow he couldn't ask. At lunch, they met up with Roach and his new friend, Ramirez. Ghost was very glad that Ramirez was a very kind-hearted guy. Soap remembered that Ramirez is the boy who always following Foley, a sixth year student around the place. Soap himself didn't really like Foley since the older boy used to order people around, and his victim would be Ramirez or at least most of the time.<p>

"I will join the Psychic Division Self-Development for awhile," said Roach. "Mr. Price said that my ability for Psychometry and Precognition could make me join this class," Roach explained while chewing his sandwich. "James also in Psychic Division and his ability is Mediumship. He can see, communicate and channel spirits around him."

"Nice to meet you," said Ramirez with a smile on his face. "By the way, the lady over there ask you whether you are his husband or not," Ramirez pointed at the spot next to Soap. Hearing the boy's comment, Soap quickly jumped from his spot and stared at the empty air next to him with wide eyes. "She really wants to know," said Ramirez again. "Should I tell her to leave?"

"T-Tell her I'm not his husband..." said Soap. What kind of people this little Roach befriended with?

"I see..." Ramirez mumbled to himself.

"You can really see 'them'?" asked Ghost amused. Roach found a weird friend indeed, but this kid seemed interesting.

Ramirez nodded. Soap let out a nervous chuckle then stared at Roach.

"How's your day?" he asked him.

"It was pretty good, Soap, how about yours?"

"Great, I guess."

After chatted for several minutes, Soap decided it was time to go to their next classes which was Self-Development. Ghost threw Roach a concerned look, but Roach smiled softly at him. The older boy dragged Roach a few meters away from Soap and Ramirez.

"Are you sure you'll be okay, Roach?" asked Ghost worriedly.

"Mr. Price understands about my condition, Ghost. That's why he put me in that class..." said Roach. "Being the only Unclassified doesn't mean that I will free from Self-Development Program."

"What if you accidentally do _it_ again, Roach?" asked Ghost. "I will go to talk to Price. You shouldn't take that class since—"

"No, Ghost. That's the point of being here in this academy, to make sure that I can use my ability properly. Now, would you let me go to my class? James and Soap are waiting," said Roach. He pulled his arm from Ghost's grip and ran towards Ramirez who was waiting for him. Ghost only stared at his brother as they left.

"Something's wrong, mate?" asked Soap when he looked at Ghost hidden face. He really couldn't tell what the boy really felt right now. "Your brother seemed upset, Ghost," he said quietly.

"I'm fine. Let's go."

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><p>John Price just sat behind his desk while watching the students of his Elemental Division's Self-Development Class practiced their abilities. He could recognize Soap's ability reached the higher level since the last month. Right now, the boy was making artificial dragon from fire and made it flying around the class. Price would make sure that the fire wouldn't burn anything. On the other side of the room, he could see another student, Dunn, making a city diorama and lit up the lights of the city just by touching a small wire. Price smiled to himself. That boy had been good at controlling his amount of electricity that he released from his body now. He could remember the first time Dunn tried to light up a lamp; it turned up into a disaster which made half of the school building's electric system overload and burnt.<p>

Now, he could see the progress of the new boy, Simon "Ghost" Riley. The boy just sat on his chair, and does nothing. Raised one of his eyebrows, Price approached this boy.

"Something bothering you?" he asked. The masked boy just stared at him with his blue eyes which well-hidden behind those dark-red sunglasses. Price chuckled. "Now, I want to see what you can do, Ghost."

"I can do ice-bending, sir," answered Ghost. He wasn't in the mood right now.

"Well, I don't see anything that you've been done with your ability, Ghost. Why don't you show it to us?" asked Price.

"I'm not in the mood, sir," said Ghost casually.

Now, Price really surprised to hear the answer.

"That's not the correct answer, Mr. Riley. This is a class, not your playroom," said Price sternly.

Ghost sighed. With a flick of his finger, Soap's fire dragon that fly near the ceiling turned into ice and fell down with a loud thud. The dragon broke into several parts. Ghost just shrugged and stood from his chair.

"That's it, sir. Now, if you excuse me..." without further explanation, Ghost stormed out of the class. The classes just watch him dumbfounded. Price just let out a tired sigh.

"Okay, class! Now back to work!"

Soap watched his dragon on the floor. He picked it up and put it into a washbasin and let it melt. He was wondering what happened to Ghost? This morning he looked happy and calm, but now... Was there something wrong between him and his brother? He was sure that they were fighting back then, after the lunch, seeing how furious Roach was. Soap was wondering what could make the clumsy brown-haired boy upset with his brother? He could really remember how overprotective Ghost was toward his younger brother. As a good roommate, Soap would find the answer eventually.

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><p><strong>AN : I'm really sorry for my grammatical errors! And also for OOC-ness! I'm still in search for a beta-reader. If you're interested, contact me by PM or e-mail me at rain . mcreally gmail .com... (remove the space)**

**Tell me what you think... please, leave a review...! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. Not even the characters of this chapter.**

**A/N: Back from the brink... School almost killing me. Also several days ago, I almost lose my laptop because when I drove my motorcycle to school, I didn't realize I had my backpack opened and my laptop almost fell to the road. Geez, enough with my problem, now on with my story!**

**A/N II : Thank you for your reviews... I try to make my chapters longer... Don't know if it's work though...**

**This one is dedicated to... my sweet beta-reader Lieutenant Jayden..! Thanks for your advise... and also for YOU!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: To Keep You Alive<strong>

"Ghost, is there something wrong?" asked Soap when they met for dinner. Ghost had been missing after he left the class, as for Roach, he kept quiet and refused to talk to his brother. Roach already spent his day with James Ramirez, and the weird kid seemed happy with his new friend. The group however, only stared at the masked boy, waiting for a word to come out of his mouth. Soap really hated this situation, since he couldn't do anything to fix it. Took a deep breath, Soap looked around to see someone who could help him.

"Ghost, come on..." begged Soap. "Okay, if you don't wanna talk, it's fine. I won't force you to spill it."

Ghost didn't say anything. He didn't even bother to glance at his brother when the brunette boy left the Main Hall with Ramirez. Soap chose to drop the subject for awhile. He could give the interrogation later. Soap headed down toward his room when he heard a scream and yelling came from the bathroom of the dormitory. Out of nowhere, Ghost appeared beside him and quickly followed Soap's step. The sound was getting louder. Soap cursed when he recognized the voice. He quickened his pace, and rushed into the bathroom. There was a group of students, laughing at someone who was cowering under the shower while the water droplets kept pouring on him. The others only laughed at the sight. Roach was crouching in fear. His brown eyes stared at his tormentor. One of the students—Soap recognized him as a boy who came from Animal-ability Division—grab the boys brown hair and tugged them harshly. There was a boy who threatening the poor Roach with his hand, which already turned into a steel blade. No wonder Roach frightened. At the corner of the bathroom, James Ramirez lied motionless.

"You are such an eyesore! I don't care whether Price cared for you whatsoever... I don't like you! This isn't a place for people like you, you scum!" the boy who tugged Roach's hair said harshly. With a small movements of his finger the water droplets getting faster and became a bunch of needles, all stopped in the mid-air. Roach stared at those needles with fear in his eyes.

"No! You can't do that...!" he spoke quietly.

"Oh, yes, we can. It's pretty easy. All that I need is to flick my hand and these needles would pierce your skin painfully," said the boy with a sick grin on his face. "We can make it looks like an accident, though..."

"No you won't!"

"You are a scum, Sanderson. We don't even need you, you unclassified bastard! Quit fucking around to get the teacher's attention, because your acting is suck! I have enough reason to kill you now, Sanderson."

The boy lifted his hand, and everything seemed like going in slow motion. Roach screamed, covering his face with both his hands. Before Soap could react, Ghost already lifted his hand, and with a small flick of his wrist, the boy and his gang were frozen in the thin ice.

"Ghost! What the bloody hell are you doing?" Soap yelled at Ghost. Once again, he cursed himself because he still couldn't read the boys expression. Ghost rushed toward his brother. Roach still shivered in fear, covering his head. Ghost quickly comforted him with a hug, just like what he always did to calm his brother. Roach irregular breath became more contents and finally recognized his surroundings.

The shower room already filled with people, and three of them were Gaz, Price, and Nikolai. Gaz looked at Ghost with an unreadable expression while Price looked irritated, and Nikolai's expression being the normal one. Soap quickly turned off the shower and Gaz handed a towel for Roach. Price looked at three of his 'students'. He sighed.

"Soap, Ghost, you should go to my office, now. Gaz, you should bring Roach and Ramirez to the infirmary. Nikolai, take care of those 'frozen students'," ordered Price. Without hesitation, everyone did their work. But Gaz had a little problem with Roach. The boy refused to go to the infirmary unless Ghost would come with him. Gaz brought the boy along with him after Price told him to do so. And now, here they were, in the Price's quarter.

The older man prepared the first aid for Roach, to make him stop shivered. With a hot chocolate in hand, Price asked Gaz to accompany Roach for a few minutes while he spoke to the boys. Price gave Ghost and Soap a stern look which reminded them of their mistakes. Soap tried to make he himself relax while Ghost tried to play it cool, even though he was ready to rip the boy's throat if he dared to threatened Roach further. No one messed with his brother.

"Ghost, I don't know if you knew it, but there's a rule in this place that forbid you to use your ability to attack or threatening another students," said Price.

"They use it to threaten my brother, Sir," said Ghost firmly. "They aren't the victims. The only victim is Roach."

"But there's no reason for you to freeze them, Ghost. And Soap, I hoped you can do better to stop Ghost," said Price sternly.

"I tried, sir," said Soap.

"They were going to kill Roach," said Ghost. "I can't let them do that. The worst case, Roach would have been killing them on the spot."

Soap blinked when he heard Ghost's words. Roach could have been killing them? That kind-hearted brunette would kill someone? Soap didn't understand Ghost's logic. Maybe there _was_ something wrong with these people though. But the serious look on Ghost's face gave him the impression that this was really a serious matter. Soap sighed and looked at Price's face.

"Ghost, I really understand your problem concerning Roach, but still, I can't let you do everything in order to keep your brother alive. Rules are rules, and I don't want any of you violate it. These were made to keep you safe from killing each other," said Price.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I don't really understand..." said Soap carefully. "What's the real problem actually? Roach kill someone? Roach would get himself killed? I hate being left out in the dark, Mr. Price. I'm their roommate, so I need to know things that concerning them," he glanced at Ghost's masked face, hoping the boy wouldn't mind him digging at his personal life. But it wasn't like Soap would just drop the subject.

"Roach told me to believe in you," said Ghost. "His abilities are Psychometry and Precognition though. And I believe in Roach's judgement. I can tell him, Sir," Ghost stared at Price's eyes firmly. Price let out a sighed.

"Alright, you tell him. But it doesn't mean that I'm releasing you from punishment. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to see those troublemakers," Price stood up from his chair and left the room.

Soap stared intensely at Ghost, waiting for the guy to tell him.

"You want the story from the beginning?" asked Ghost.

"Tell me everything, Ghost."

Ghost let out a small sighed.

"Well, Roach and I are half-brothers. We have different father. That woman and my father were never been married before, even after I was born. Then that woman left my father and took me with her and she married this man. I don't really remember the story, since I heard it from someone, but a few months after their marriage, that woman gave a birth. That was when Roach was born. We lived happily as a family for a few years. But right after Roach's fifth birthday, Roach's father left us to go to another woman. That woman was furious when she knew the reason of why her husband left her and that was because of Roach and I. He found us to be a burden of his life. So when he left, that woman took us all to her old boyfriend, my father.

"As an unemployed man, he hated us with all his might. Especially Roach since the boy wasn't even his son. And as a revenge for what his father already done, that woman also hate Roach. They were abusing him in order to release their anger for their miserable life. Even though they knew it wasn't even Roach's fault. They were also abusing me, but Roach always get the worst. That's why I always stood up for him. Roach is a kind-hearted boy. Hell, even you could say that he's so fragile! His clumsiness and all of that shit... Since then, Roach always depends on me.

"I found out about my ability when I was eight, I accidentally froze the tab water at home and those devils were so mad and began to beat Roach up. I hate them for that, but one thing I knew is I would use my power to protect Roach from everything that could hurt him. One day, we met a strange man. This man knew about my ability and my intention to protect Roach. Hell, he even knew our pasts! The man knew everything about us, and he told me he would teach me how to control my power. He told me that he was a telepath, so he could read our mind, even deeper than that. That was why he knew so much about our pasts that we couldn't even remember. Roach felt safe with him and I always consider him as a father figure for us. But after a few months, something weird happened.

"That day, Roach came home, crying. Not wanting those devils saw Roach in such state, I brought him to that man's place. Roach told us what happened to him. We listened to him. He told us that his friends were trying to bully him. But before they could hit him, they fell to the ground unconscious. Roach wasn't even lain a finger on them. That's why he quickly left that place and came to me. Hearing Roach's story, that man grabbed Roach's arm and force Roach to tell him the truth. I saw fear on Roach's eyes, but before I could stop him, he already fell to the ground unconscious. Roach stared at me for awhile, when suddenly he was coughing blood. In a panic state, I tried to wake the man up while cleaning the blood from Roach's face. When the man woke up, he told us something horrible.

"He lost his ability.

"He analyzed the situation. When Roach touches the towel that the man gave us, he commented something about sad feeling that the man felt. That was when we realized Roach's ability of Psychometry. He could _read_ the past of an object. We came out with a theory.

"Roach have a unique ability called 'Ability Annihilation'. It's a rare ability, which a person can annihilate other person's ability. In higher level, it can even annihilate people's ability to live. But such ability need some cost that the person who possessed it should pay.

"Each time Roach use his special ability, he shortened his life-span. That's why he was coughing blood, and each time he use his ability, his complexion became paler. It was only mean, his life shortened. But the more he annihilates other people's ability, the stronger his ability become. That's why Roach could have more than one ability, an opposite's ability; Psychometry and Precognition, an ability to see the future," Ghost explained to Soap. "A certain event can trigger this ability without him realizing it..."

"This means, when he felt something dangerous would happen to himself..." Soap tried to conclude Ghost's explanation.

"He could kill them easily. Just like what happened to those devils who we called 'parents'," said Ghost. "It wasn't his fault, because he had no control over his own ability, and they have no reason to beat Roach. Before I could stop them, Roach already use his ability. It took him two days to wake up from his coma and I told him to not use his ability anymore because I will always protect him from any harm. On the same day, that man disappeared and we ended up here."

"Does that mean if once again Roach use his power...?"

"In a certain state, he could die," said Ghost coldly. "I won't let it happen. Roach's precognition told me that it was safe to tell you the whole story and you can be trusted. But we don't want to be a burden for you, so it's better if we keep the distances and..."

"No," said Soap sternly. "Let me help you. That's what friends do, right?"

Ghost only stared at this Mohawk boy dumbfounded. He laughed at his friend's antique.

The first laugh since he stepped into the Academy.

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><p>At the weekend, as usual, they got nothing to do. Ghost would spend his day doing his punishment, as Roach and Soap would accompany him and helping a little bit. It was a quiet day, when most of the students would go to a nearby town under the supervision of teachers, and here Ghost was, stuck in the toilet, toothbrush in hand. Price gave him ridiculous punishment to clean up the toilet using toothbrush.<p>

"Oh... Why he told me to do this! I hate doing this kind of punishment!" Ghost groaned.

"Hmmm... It's your fault though," said Soap. The boy was sipping his soda while Roach only stared at Ghost apologetically.

"Let me help you," said Roach. He grabbed another toothbrush that just lied on the floor and helped Ghost to brush the floor. "I'm sorry, Ghost. You have to take the punishment in my stead. I shouldn't trigger they hates toward me."

Ghost let out a chuckle and ruffled Roach's hair. "Care to tell me how? Roach, you're such a good young man. There's no way you could make people hate you. Hell, Roach, whatever you do, just do it like you always did."

"Thanks, Ghost," smiled Roach.

"Anytime," Ghost grinned behind his balaclava.

Soap finished his soda and looked at the brothers who still cleaned up the bathroom.

"Hey, how about you guys join me? I have club activities at the North Building this afternoon. If you have nothing to do, we can go after you finished your punishment," asked Soap. "Maybe you could use some help, Ghost," Soap took another toothbrush and helped them to finish it. After awhile, they finished the punishment and cleaned themselves. Soap pushed the boys towards the door and led the way to the Northern Building.

Roach looked around the room. It wasn't a big or fancy looking room, but it looked very comfortable. A big brown couch on one side of the room, and near a large French window, facing the garden there's a comfortable settee. At the far corner, there sat a table full of chemical equipment and there was a large glass cupboard with more chemical equipments. In the middle of the room, there was a round table with several chairs around it. There was a girl who sat on the chair with a laptop on the table. She would look normal if there wasn't several wire connecting her arm to the computer. Roach could see several calculation on the screen while the girl tried to concentrate.

"Hey, Deadly," greeted Soap.

The girl glanced at him and then stared at Ghost and Roach.

"Simon Riley," she pointed at Ghost. "Gary Sanderson," she pointed at Roach.

"Guys, this is Velinda Pelayo, but we called her Deadly," said Soap.

"Nice to meet you guys," she smiled. She mumbled something, and suddenly, her arm _sucked_ the wires into her body. Roach was gulping at the sight. Deadly smiled at the boy. "Don't worry. That's the part of my ability. I'm a hacker, though not like those amateur who played with keyboard and all that shits. In my part, I'm being one with every computer network in this world." She waved her hand at the coffee machine. "Coffee?"

"No thanks," said Soap. "Where's the other?"

"Still in the town. Anyway, what're you doing here?" asked Deadly.

"Ah, well, we got nothing to do right now, and I think it's a great idea to bring Ghost and Roach here, just in case they'd like to join our little club."

"I see," said Deadly. "Welcome to the TF-141, gentlemen."

They chatted for awhile, until one by one, the club's members appeared. The first one was Gaz. As usual, he wore his trademark cap with Union Jack sewed on it. A grin spread on his face when he saw Ghost and Roach.

"Ah, you guys will join the club?" asked Gaz. "We're TF-141, chemistry club but without proper use. It's more like relaxation club rather than chemistry though," Gaz chuckled at his explanation. "And we also called ourselves trouble-shooter or some shit. The problem is, rather than fixing problem, we always end up worsening it though."

"I see..." said Ghost.

"And we also accepting new members," said Gaz.

Roach smiled brightly at the older boy.

"We will join then."

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><p><strong>AN : Please, read and review. Your review will boast up my hand and fingers to type…!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer : I own nothing except for the plot...**

**A/N : I'm sorry for the late update since I just finished my whole exams at school and now, I think it's time for update... **

**Warnings : Do you think if I put some characters from Modern warfare 3 it will be a spoiler? I don't know... If you think it is, it's up to you...**

**This chapter is dedicated to my lovely beta-reader, Lieutenant Jayden... For the readers who review.. and all the silent-readers out there... this one is for YOU!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: <strong>**Of Past and Future**

"_With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.__" _

**~Ralph**** Waldo Emerson~**

_The thunder roared at the sky and lightning lit up the sky over the city. In a small dark room, there was a boy, cowering in the corner. He sniffled a bit. His body shaken when the thunder roared and the lightning slashed the cloudy sky. The wind howled and the heavy rain smacked the thin window. The young boy was barely six. His small figure only made him look a lot younger._

"_Gary, you're here?"_

"_Simon?"_

_The little boy looked at an older boy who stood in the doorway. He was older than the first one and taller, with dark-brownish hair and a pair of perfectly blue eyes._

"_Mum and Dad aren't home tonight. Guess you can sleep in the bedroom for tonight, yeah?" asked Simon. "Come on, Gary..."_

_The thunder blasted and Gary jumped from his spot, tear in his eyes. Simon let out a sigh. He grabbed a blanket from the couch and covered the boy with. Gary only shuddered when the thunder roared again. He let out a sob._

_It was always like this, in each stormy night. And like always, Simon would seat beside him, and told him that it would be alright._

* * *

><p>"You two seemed pretty close," said Soap. They were in the club room. Roach slept on the coach while Soap tried to figure out a large puzzle game with small pieces. Ghost only sat besides Roach's head, trying to practice his new assignment from Price at today's Self-Development Class; making rose sculpture with his ability. Ghost could freeze everything by a flick of his wrist, but making some artistic piece? Hell! It wasn't his thing!<p>

"Hmmm... I'm the only one he got," said Ghost after he threw his twentieth "rose" to a basin. "I had enough! What's with this assignment anyway? It isn't like I'll be an artist in the future!" yelled Ghost.

Roach woke up from his sleep. He looked around when he noticed Soap and Ghost were beside him. He glanced at nearby basin and saw some ice in it. He smiled a bit. Roach knew, Ghost was never good at art. He watched Ghost in amusement when he tried to produce more roses.

"Ghost, what are you doing?" asked Roach when Ghost grew tired of producing his so-called art.

"Hey, Roach. Uh... This is an assignment from Price," said Ghost.

Roach smiled and looked at Soap. The boy started to play with the puzzle pieces.

"Hey, Soap, let me help you with that..." he stood up from his seat when...

* * *

><p><em>Red. <em>

_It's all red._

_A face. Who is it?_

_Screaming... Shouting... Yelling... Is that... Ghost? Soap? What are they doing here?_

_Flashback. A boy riding a bicycle with a smile on his face. A boy eats a cream puff; his eyes stared at me... Who is he?_

_A loud crashing sound. Blood. What is it? Soap... He says something..._

"_ROACH! LOOK OUT!"_

* * *

><p>"GARY!" Ghost yelled frantically at his brother. He fell down; just when he was rose up toward Soap. And he started shaking without control, as if he was afraid of something. Ghost quickly jumped from his seat tried to calm Roach down. Ghost was afraid. Roach's eyes were open widely, but all he could see was white. As if some fog clouded Roach's eyes and the boy started mumbling something quickly. The words were too fast for Ghost to catch up with it. The only word that he thought he heard was "blood". Soap ran quickly out of the room to search some help. He cursed when all he could find was Ramirez who talked to Deadly.<p>

"Where's Price?" he asked them. When they saw fear in his eyes, they quickly caught up with the situation.

"I-I call him!" Ramirez quickly ran up the stairs toward Price's office on the second floor.

"Soap, what's wrong?" the girl asked him calmly.

"Something's wrong with Roach..." he said quietly. Soap lead the way to the room while Deadly followed him close behind. She saw Ghost; still wearing his creepy mask trying to catch his breath and lying limp in his arms was Roach. He already stopped shivering and shaking, and now his eyes were close calmly as if he was sleeping. Deadly checked Roach's condition first while Ghost tried to wipe the sweat behind his dark-red sun-glasses.

Ramirez appeared with Price behind him. The older man crouched and checked Roach's vital sign. Deadly watched him work, and so did Soap and Ramirez.

"No good," said Price. "We need MacMillan. Deadly, call him immediately. Ramirez, contact the infirmary, and make sure they prepared everything that Roach may need," ordered Price.

"I'm on it, Sir," Deadly already held her cell phone and called MacMillan. He was a researcher, as also a doctor of the academy. "Sir, Doctor MacMillan said he would be here in a few minutes. He told me make sure that Roach was warm enough when he's here."

"Ghost, Soap, find all the blankets in this building and bring them here. Ramirez, get me some warm water. Deadly, help me here for a bit. We had to move him from the floor."

* * *

><p>"That was a close call, son," said MacMillan toward Price. "Nothing's dangerous now. I don't know what happened to this boy at that moment, but I assure you that right now, he's fine."<p>

Ghost let out a relieve sigh, and so did Soap. Roach was lying on the infirmary's bed, an IV attached to his veins while the clear liquid ran down to his system. An oxygen mask was attached to his nose in order to make him breathe easily.

"Now, tell me, what's wrong with him?" asked MacMillan. "From what I've seen, there's no major damage on his internal organ or body. Only several scars and a nasty one near his clavicle."

"How could you tell it?" asked Ghost. "You don't even open his clothes or bring an X-Ray here..."

"I _have_ x-ray vision. Do you think I can be a doctor and researcher here by being a normal person? Shepherd won't even hire me..."

Ghost only nodded at his comment. Shepherd was the leader of this Academy. He also led an independent institution who researched about supernatural ability.

"I think it was his precognition," said Ghost quietly.

"Precognition?" asked MacMillan. "Son, I know what precognition is, but it's never been like this. This boy's internal organs even stop functioning for several seconds before it's suddenly alive. He was shaking, yes, that's precognition, but until he goes unconscious? I'm a doctor _and_ a researcher, but I never find this kind of case before."

"How many Unclassified people that you've met before?" asked Price.

"Hmmm... Not many, even though they're part of my research. There are many variable and probability in them. You cannot base everything on common knowledge about special people," said MacMillan. "Don't tell me that he's..."

"Aye. His one of them," said Price.

MacMillan shook his head.

"What a pity. Especially for a bright young man," said MacMillan.

"What do you mean, Sir?" asked Ghost concernly.

MacMillan stared at Ghost's masked face. He sighed heavily.

"Most Unclassified doesn't live long, young man," said MacMillan. "I hate to say it, but it's the truth. If he could live for another ten years, that's a miracle."

"Mac, I think we should leave," said Price. MacMillan glanced toward Ghost and nodded. Both the older men left, leaving Soap and Ghost. Ghost sat beside the bed. He held Roach's arm which didn't have IV attached to it. Soap could see sadness in his eyes, behind those glasses.

Ghost couldn't believe what he just heard. Something was wrong with his ear. Roach couldn't die... right? He should be alive until he was old. Ghost swore that he would protect his brother from everything that may harm him. Everything. He couldn't just die! Ghost won't let it happen. Not a chance!

"You alright, mate?" asked Soap. He put his hand on Ghost's shoulder in a calming manner.

"He can't just die, Soap..." Ghost whispered quietly. "He can't just die... I won't let him, Soap..."

"Ghost..."

"I-I mean... I'll be there to protect him and become his shield. He cannot just die! I won't let him!" said Ghost.

"Ghost, it's alright! He won't die, okay?" said Soap. "He's just sleeping. Come to think about it, I think you should take a rest too."

* * *

><p>When Roach woke up the next day, Ramirez was standing beside his bed. The boy gave Roach a small smile. He held an apple in one hand and a knife in the other hand.<p>

"Afternoon, Roach. You want apple?" asked Ramirez kindly.

"No thanks. But I want water though," said Roach. Ramirez helped him to pour the water into glass. Roach only watched the boy worked. Ramirez handed him the glass and Roach finished it with one big gulp. He looked around him.

"Where am I? Where's Ghost?" asked Roach.

"He's going to Price's office to talk to MacMillan. Toad and Archer were here though. They left before you wake up. Soap, Ozone and Scarecrow would come after lunch," said Ramirez. The boy shrugged and cut more apples. "Are you sure you don't want these?"

"No thanks, I'm fine."

The two remained silent. Roach just stared at the ceiling, thinking about the things that he just saw. Suddenly, something popped out of his mind.

"James, how long I've been here?" asked Roach.

"A day," said Ramirez casually.

Several seconds later, the door opened and Roach could see Ghost and Soap entered the room. Following closely, there were Ozone and Scarecrow, both of them were grinning like crazy. Soap smiled when he saw the younger boy woke up and looked fine. Ramirez was done with his apple and tried to arrange it on a plate. He offered it to Ozone and Scarecrow, and they ate it gladly. Roach only watch in amusement when two of them finished the apple in a few seconds.

"Roach, how do you feel?" asked Ghost. Roach could sense that Ghost was smiling behind his balaclava. Roach returned the gesture.

"I feel great. I was hoping that—"

* * *

><p>"<em>Get out of here! Take Yuri with you!"<em>

"_YURI!"_

_Blood... all over the place._

_It's Ghost. He says something... What...?_

"_Gary, wake up!"_

* * *

><p>Gary's eyes shot open. He felt weak. Ghost was hugging him in calming manner, his hand patted his head. Roach's hands were clutching Ghost's jacket tightly.<p>

"Simon... There's a lot of blood..." the boy murmured quietly. Ghost still strokes his hair quietly. It had been a long time since the last time Roach called him by his given name. Only in a pinch, or when Roach was really scared after something. Something big and terrible.

Ramirez was gone in order to find MacMillan or Price or anyone who could help them. Ozone came up beside Roach and Ghost. He gave Ghost a questioning look and Ghost silently nodded. Ozone smiled. Calmly, he reached out and took Roach's hand in his. Suddenly, Roach could feel a warm feeling shot through his body, settled him in comfort. He closed his eyes and relaxed in Ghost's arms. After awhile, Ozone released Roach's hand, and stand up straight.

"It's fine now, yeah?" asked Ozone. "There's nothing to be scared, Roach, we're all here. You have Ghost, Soap, me, Ramirez, and all the guys to look after you, you know."

Roach blushed at his statement.

"I don't need all of you to look after me," he tried to sound tough. "I can manage on my own."

"Really?" asked Scarecrow teasingly.

"But how'd you do that?" asked Roach. "I mean, you just held my hand and suddenly I feel warm and all..."

"It's called 'Empathy', Roach," said Soap. "Do you really pay attention in your class?"

"I did! It's like... I never experienced it first-hand before..." said Roach.

"True true..." said Ghost. "Thank you, Ozone."

"Don't sweat it," said Ozone, grinning widely.

A few seconds later, MacMillan came with Ramirez and checked Roach's condition. He smiled when Soap told him what happened and how Ozone handled the aftershock of it. Ozone blushed when he heard MacMillan praised him. When MacMillan left and so did Ozone, Scarecrow and Ramirez, Ghost stared softly at Roach.

"Roach, what's wrong? Is it your precognition?" asked Ghost. Roach nodded. "Care to tell me what you saw?" asked Ghost again.

"It was blood..." Roach murmured. "Blood... And a boy rode a bicycle... He ate cream puffs happily before the blood sputtered all over the place... He's name is..." Roach paused for a few seconds. "Yuri?"

* * *

><p>"Who the bloody hell is Yuri?" asked Soap to Ghost when they were outside Roach's room.<p>

"I don't know. Never heard that name before..." said Ghost. "Do you think he's a student here? I mean he could be in any year..."

He bumped onto someone. Ghost quickly apologized and looked at the person in front of him. There was a boy, not older than Soap with buzz cut hair, and fair skin. His eyes were greyish and cold. Without a word, the boy left them.

"Who was that?" asked Ghost.

"I don't know. Never seen him before," said Soap. "Back to the topic, Ghost; who is Yuri? I mean, I spent four years of my life in this place, and I'm assured you that I never heard any Yuri came to this Academy. Does he really exist? I don't meant to sound offending, but what if it's just a dream? A nightmare rather than a precognition?"

"It's Roach that we're talking about, Soap. You know he can see the future..." said Ghost.

"I mean... Roach was having a bad time before you guys came to this Academy and all... Don't you think it's just... uh... After effect of his past?"

"Do you think Roach had gone mental?" asked Ghost sharply.

"My God, no! It's just... It can be a simple nightmare!"

"You're wrong, Soap. I know Roach better than you. He's precognition saved our arses for many times!" said Ghost. "If you don't want to help, it's fine. But I will find this Yuri, and found out what's wrong with Roach."

Ghost ran quickly before Soap could stop him. Ghost could be so stubborn and hard to deal with.

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><p><strong>AN : I need review... review... in order to continue this story... :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer : I own nothing except for the plot...**

**A/N : I'm sorry (again) for the late update (again) because my school (again) just gave me a holiday (it's just a week though) and I suddenly got hit by this massive writer's-block (when you feel sick just by looking at the word processor window) and.. yeah...**

**Now, I'd like to say thank you for those who left review (it really help me in my "dark" time)... so don't hesitate to leave them :)**

**And this one is dedicated for my lovely beta-reader, Lieutenant Jayden... and also for all the readers out there...!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5 : Lux et Veritas ~Light and Truth~<strong>

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><p>"<em>The Light is more than some abstract, unknowable energy force. Light is Truth. If Light is truth, then darkness must be lies. Each and every lie we tell to ourselves and others casts the shadow of separation upon us. Every time even the most minor deception is revealed and the truth is made known we are re-united with the Light. So, Let there be Light. Those are the words by which you can create your own magnificent world." <em>

~ **Renee Bledsoe, Addiction Alchemy**

* * *

><p>"Do you find him?" asked Soap to Ghost when two of them were walking down the corridor.<p>

"Not yet, but I will," said Ghost. "Just watch me."

Soap stopped Ghost and grabs both his shoulders. He stared intensely into Ghost sun-glassed blue eyes. "Are you mad at me?" asked Soap.

"No," answered Ghost. "Why am I supposed to be mad at you?"

Soap sighed.

"It's just… I'm trying to be realistic, Ghost. You cannot travel across the country just to find this Yuri guy," said Soap. "All that you can do is just drop the subject, and we never talk about it anymore. Sounds good?"

Ghost stared at Soap's face. He could tell that the boy was mad and he would refuse to drop it. Ghost didn't say anything. He just walked quietly to his Biology Class while Soap followed closely behind him. Neither one of them spoke up.

When they entered the class, Ozone and Archer waved slightly. Soap smiled at them. Ghost didn't pay any attention. He just stared at the whiteboard, when Kamarov showed up, followed by someone. Buzz cut, greyish eyes, fair skin, Ghost could recognize him as the boy who he bumped yesterday.

"Today, meet your new friend. He's Yuri, from Russia," said Kamarov casually.

"Yuri?"

Both Ghost and Soap shot up from their seats, stared at this new kid. Yuri only stared back emotionlessly. Kamarov glanced at his students with an annoyed look on his face.

"Mr. MacTavish, Mr. Riley, you have something to say?" asked Kamarov.

"Ummm... No, sir," said Ghost.

"Me neither," said Soap.

They sat back and watched Yuri walked toward his seat. Soap followed him with his eyes closely. Ghost only threw a winning smile toward the. Fortunately, he couldn't see it because of Ghost's balaclava, but surely, he couldn't miss a glint in his eyes. They found him; This Yuri guy.

* * *

><p>"Are these seat taken?" asked Ghost to Yuri when they met him in Main Hall for lunch. Yuri stared at Ghost and Soap for awhile before he shook his head.<p>

"Thanks mate," said Soap. He grinned at Yuri, but the boy only gave him a weak smile. "So... Tell me where you came from?" asked Soap.

"I came from Russia," said Yuri.

They spent the rest of lunch in silence until a few minutes later, Roach appeared and decided to join them. So did Chemo and the gang. All of them greeted Yuri. The Russian boy didn't talk much. Only nodded when needed and shook his head. Sometimes he gave a small smile, but just that. Ghost watched Roach closely to see the boy's reaction about the fact that this was Yuri that he was talking about. But Ghost always knew that Roach could hide his feeling very well. Just something that he learnt since long time ago.

Roach laughed and smiled, looked at ease. That was a good thing, though Ghost could feel that something was bothering Roach.

"Hey, Roach, can I talk to you for a second?" asked Ghost.

"Sure, Ghost," said Roach smiled.

Roach followed his brother to go to the end of Main Hall. Ghost sighed and then he looked into his brother's eyes. Roach smiled softly at him. He knew what his older brother would say. Once again, Ghost sighed.

"Roach... Is this the guy in your precognition-dream?" asked Ghost. Roach nodded.

"Yes, Ghost. I just need to find something about his past because something bad would happen. Soon. And it is concern his being," said Roach. "I've seen it, Ghost, we have to help him."

Ghost patted Roach's shoulder and he pulled him into a brotherly hug. He released the boy and smiled at him.

"It's alright. I will be there for you," assured Ghost. "Remember our promise?"

"That you will never leave me? You will protect me from everything that would hurt me?"

"Yes, Roach. That, and I will always trust you and I will always love you," Ghost ruffled his brother's hair and Roach slightly smiled at the gesture.

"Thanks, Ghost. Love you too."

They got back to their seats and chatted with everyone until the lunch time was over and everyone had to go to their respective class which is Self-Development. Roach waved at his brother and the gang when he walked out of Main Hall to his class; Ghost and Soap glanced at Yuri and starting to interrogate him. Yuri only stared back at his new 'friends' while they started asking things to him.

"So... Which Division are you belong?" asked Archer.

"Uhmmm... Psychic Division if I'm not mistaken..." said Yuri. "I can move things with my willpower."

"You mean like telekinesis?" asked Soap.

"Yeah."

"That's cool. You should show us sometime. But right now, we have to go back to our respective class," said Ghost.

"Come along, Yuri. We're in the same class after all," said Ozone. He gave Yuri a small smile which he returned shyly.

They left the Main Hall, with Ghost and Soap went to their Self-Development class. Ghost didn't say anything as they walking down the corridor, deep in thought. Soap just stood there and watched his friend thinking about something, but he was sure that he didn't want to bother. Ghost always had something to think about, and after they met Yuri, Soap was sure it was only add more things to his mind.

In front of the class, Ghost and Soap stopped abruptly, and Ghost looked at Soap's eyes.

"How can we get some words from Yuri?" asked Ghost.

"I thought you would find a way," said Soap.

"Well, it'll need more time to—"

Ghost didn't have a chance to finish his sentence because a loud bang came from somewhere in the school building. Soap and Ghost exchanged glance and a few heads were pop out of several room, tried to figure out what happened.

"That was come from the third floor…" said Ghost.

"The Psychic Division…"

Ghost just wanted to make a run when Soap's strong grip on his shoulder stopped him. Ghost looked at the Mohawk boy questioningly.

"Ghost we have to get to our class… Loud noise could be heard in this place… Just because it's coming from the Psychic Division, it doesn't mean that your brother is in danger," said Soap.

A louder bang and a flash of blue light coming from the stair at the end of the corridor.

"That was different," said Soap. Both he and Ghost ran up to the stair, and they could hear yelling and screaming coming from the third floor. Everyone else in that floor was already out in the corridor, watched both Soap and Ghost ran up the third floor. Several teachers were coming and tried to stop them, but they ignored them. Ghost only need to find his brother and make sure he was okay.

The third floor was a mess. There was a man, in black clothing stood in the middle of hall way, a blue lightning flickering from his palms. Ghost stared at him for awhile, when the man looked at him. It wasn't human's eyes. Filled with hate, anger, pain… and blood-lust. At the end of the hallway, Ghost could see them. Roach, Ramirez, Ozone, and Archer, also with Yuri among them.

"Roach!" Ghost sprinted toward his brother, but the man already saw him. The blue lightning flashed, and all that Ghost could hear was Soap yelling his name.

* * *

><p>"<em>Come on, Gary! You can do this!" Simon looked up at his little brother on the tree branch, a few meters above him. Gary only looked down at his brother, eyes wide with fear. His arms hugged the tree, enough to show the older boy that he was really scared.<em>

"_I can't, Simon! It's too high! I can't!" said Gary._

"_It's okay, Gary. I'll catch you! I won't let you down!" assured Simon._

_Gary still refused to go down that tree. Simon can be very much taller than he was, yes, but what if Simon couldn't catch him? What if he would hurt Simon instead? Gary was so scared and he didn't know what to do, until he stared at Simon's face once again._

"_I won't let anything hurt you, Gary… I promise," said Simon._

_Gary shook his head._

"_Come on, Gary. I won't let anything hurt you, and I will protect you if anything bad happen…"_

"_Promise?" Gary asked quietly._

"_I promise…" said Simon softly. He smiled to encourage at his younger brother. Gary let go of the tree and he looked at Simon's assuring smile._

_He jumped…_

* * *

><p>Price was the first teacher who reached the third floor. He stared at a familiar face. Even those black trench coat, and that black fedora and also those dark sunglasses couldn't make him mistaken this man. Khaled Al-Asad, stood proud on the doorway. He smiled at Price, a smile that would make him wanted to spit. He stared at Khaled, and walked closer to the door.<p>

"Can't get you any closer, Price," said Al-Asad. He smirked at Price. Suddenly, some transparent barrier appeared, made Price couldn't walk any further. Price smiled.

"Magnetic barrier," said Price calmly. "It can't stop me."

Price swung his hand, and suddenly, the floor cracked leaving an open crater on the surface. But it seemed like it gave no effect on Al-Asad, because he floated on air. Al-Asad smirked.

"Be careful, Price. You're on the third floor. Wrong use of your power, you would hurt the students here," said Al-Asad.

"Then I'll use it wisely."

Several pieces of the debris that the crater made was floating around them. With his gravitation manipulation, Price was ready to strike his old enemies. All he needed was to open the path in order to save the students. But he had to beat Al-Asad first. Suddenly, Kamarov appeared, with a tranquilizer gun in his hands. Price gave him a signal with his eyes, and Kamarov nodded.

With a flick of his hand, the stones were started to shot up towards Al-Asad with a speed of Winchester .223 Super Short Magnums and the power of a Browning M2HB. But Al-Asad only put his magnetic barrier in the correct way and shielded all the debris. Kamarov was ready with his tranquilizer gun and gave a super-silent shot, but once again, Al-Asad's power stopped the dart, and with a simple swing of his hand, the dart flew toward Price. If Kamarov didn't have his super-sense, the dart would be lodged on Price's body. The man was pushed Price out of the way before it could get worse.

"Make a way, Price, Kamarov!" Al-Fulani appeared. "The headmaster gave me an order to make sure the safety of the students," said him. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Al-Asad. Price couldn't do much because he could hurt the students, and here I am trying the softer way to do it."

"I know what you are capable of, Al-Fulani."

"It's good! _And now, you will let the students go. You and your friend over there will surrender._" Al-Fulani stared at his eyes, but before he finished, Al-Asad broke the eyes contact.

"It didn't work," the smirked on Al-Asad's face getting wider.

* * *

><p>Roach stared at Ghost unconscious figure, and he heard Soap yelled his brother's name. Roach couldn't move. He never felt so hopeless before. There was nothing he could do, even with his ability. There's nothing he could… Roach realized something. He stood up and faced the man. He could control the lightning. Roach knew it was very dangerous, and he could hear his friends told him to stop. Several hands tried to stop him, but Roach only pushed them away and ran up to Ghost. Soap was staring at Roach before he reacted. He dashed toward the boy and Ghost unconscious figure.<p>

The lightning man watched all of this in silent. He held up his hand, and the blue lightning flickered from his palm, ready to strike them with it. Soap jumped, protecting Ghost with his body when Roach also jumped. He had to save Ghost! Roach stood up between the man and Ghost's body, closing his eyes and ready to accept the lightning strike.

BOOM!

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><p>"<em>See? I never lied to you, Gary," Simon smiled softly at his brother. "I promise I would catch you and I did it…"<em>

"_I trust you, Simon," said Gary. "Promise me that you'll never lie to me, that you will always tell me truth?"_

"_I promise, Gary. I do always keep my promise, don't I?"_

"_You do."_

"_I'll protect you, Gary."_

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><p>Ghost saw it. Roach jumped in front of him. The flickering blue light… No… If he got hit by that… It's over… Everything move as in slow-motion. Soap was there, protecting him, and Gary… He stood there… he accepted the strike. Ghost let out a whisper,<p>

"Gary…"

Before the darkness covered him.

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><p><strong>AN : Review... Please?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer : I own nothing except for the plot :D**

**A/N : Okay, this is the next chapter of the Academy! Sorry for the long wait (well, if you wait for it) because the senior year is very, very busy and all that... Do people read this anyway?**

**Ah, well... as usual, this chapter is dedicated to my lovely beta-reader; Lieutenant Jayden (thank you so much!) and to those who left me some review to boost up my energy and spirit (thank you so much!) and to the silent-reader who read this story and love it (thank you so much!).**

**Anyway, if you see any mistakes here feel free to tell me... And if you want something with the story, you can just tell me...**

**Now, on with story!**

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><p><p>

**Chapter 6 : ****Dum ****S****piro, ****S****pero ~**_**While I breathe, I hope**__**.~**_

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><p><em>Hope is the only universal liar who never loses his reputation for veracity.<em>

**~Robert G. Ingersoll**

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><p>Hershel von Shepherd III, the leader of The Academy, the head master, or whatever you want to call him was pacing in his office furiously. It's been several days after the "Incident" which caused a lot of chaos in the Academy. Everyone kept asking question about the one behind the "Incident" and how could the intruder passed all the security of the Complex. The Academy isn't a normal school. With high-tech security and facility, this place can be called futuristic fortress for research. And Shepherd kept thinking about how they could breach all those security.<p>

A knock on his door was the only thing that stopped him from his activity. The door hissed open, and his eyes met Price's and Al-Fulani's.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," Shepherd greeted. "Take a seat."

"We need to talk," said Al-Fulani.

"About the 'Incident'…" said Price.

"I understand."

"They started to ask questions about it, Sir," said Al-Fulani. "Why the third floor became restricted area, why Mr. Sanderson and Mr. Riley along with Mr. MacTavish was in the hospital when they _know_ that two of them didn't suppose to be on the third floor."

"But the worst questions are; why all the teachers rushed onto the third floor? Why there was a bright blue light coming from the third floor?" said Price. "Your little cover up story has a lot of holes."

"We don't have a choice," said Shepherd.

"Yes, we have, Sir," said Price sharply. "Why don't we tell them the truth? I already asked the witnesses; Ramirez, Archer, and other students who were there to keep their mouth shut. But rumours spreading fast. We all know who the master mind of this mess is."

"Yes, Price. We can't tell them truth," said Shepherd. "I'll handle this. Just do your duty as usual. Good afternoon, gentlemen."

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><p>"I can't just let it go," said Price as soon as they left Shepherd's office. "We can't just keep them in the dark. What if they choose to attack again soon?"<p>

"But there's nothing we can do. I know all that you wanted is to tell them about the danger, but there's nothing you can do, Price. The head master already said that he would handle this," said Al-Fulani. "Al-Asad can avoid my 'Persuasion' by breaking the eye contact just in time, but I'm not sure with the other man. What was his name?"

"Alejandro Rojas," said Price. "Too bad, they escaped."

"Yeah. Listen, I got to go to check the new building for my Division, if you'll excuse me," said Al-Fulani. Price nodded his head and watched as Al-Fulani pacing through the corridor. He looked at his watch and decided to go to infirmary to check his students. Soap already released yesterday, while Ghost would leave the infirmary today. With a small knock on the door, MacMillan appeared and smiled at his old friend.

Price could hear Soap and Ghost talked quietly. He walked to the bed, and greeted them. Ghost sat on his bed while Soap sat on the chair. They stopped talking when Price came. Without his dark-red sunglasses, Price could see Ghost icy-blue eyes stared at him. Ghost reached up his sunglasses and slipped it. He wore his skull patterned balaclava, as usual. Soap didn't do anything.

"It's nice to see you, lads," said Price.

"Mr. Price, I really need to see Roach…" said Ghost. "I've been here for three days, and I really need to see my brother…" said Ghost.

"I tried to talk to MacMillan about that, but seems like he don't like the idea of Ghost leaving the infirmary," said Soap. "They didn't let me see him either."

MacMillan came up to the bed with several papers in his hand.

"We brought him to the research facility, since we have better medical equipments in that place. It's a restricted place to students actually…" The glare that Price sent him made MacMillan stopped mid-sentence. "But we can manage it. Just follow me."

They followed MacMillan out of the infirmary, into the Centre Garden of The Academy, toward a door at the end of the white corridor. The door opened with a soft hissing sound which led them into another corridor. This corridor had several doors, until they reach an intersection; MacMillan led them into a room, which looked like a hospital's ICU. There was a big glass window to see the inside of the room.

Ghost stared at a familiar figure that slept on the bed, with so many equipment and machine attached to his small frame.

"Roach…" Ghost whispered that name quietly.

"Can we get inside?" asked Soap. MacMillan gave him a nod.

After they did several procedure that the facility required, Ghost quickly walked towards the bed and take Roach's hand in his. Soap placed his hand on Ghost's shoulder while watching the younger boy slept serenely. When he saw Ghost's expression, Soap took a deep breath and patted Ghost's shoulder.

"I'll wait outside," he said softly.

But before he could leave, Ghost's hand grabbed his wrist. Soap gave Ghost a questioning look.

"Stay here, Soap," said Ghost.

"Okay. I won't go anywhere." Soap took two chairs nearby and placed them at one side of the bed, so that Ghost could sit down and so could he. Roach's skin was paler than before, and there was a slightly dark shade of his eye bags. He looked tired. Ghost brushed the brown bangs which covered Roach's closed eyes. Behind his balaclava, Soap couldn't really make out Ghost's expression.

"You know what… If trouble comes near us, why it is Roach who always ended up on the hospital bed with the worst condition?" asked Ghost softly. "I mean you and I, we faced the same person, and that man knocked me out first, you jumped up to protect me but it's always Roach who ended up here while both of us only stared at his sleeping figure."

"He tried to save you, Ghost. That man almost hit you with his blue lightning or something. Roach only ran up to you, he stood between you and that… man, to protect you. After the explosion and the flash of that blue light, Roach was unconscious along with the man," explained Soap. "After that, the man's friend grabbed him and they escaped before the teachers could do anything."

* * *

><p><em>A flashing blue lights sent a massive shockwave towards the entire area, knocking down almost everything and blinding Soap's vision. He couldn't see it clearly. The roar of the wave itself deafened his hearings.<em>

_ROACH!_

_He tried to move, but something was holding him. Ghost was safe… But Roach…_

_The blue lights vanished with a loud boom, as if it was absorbed by a small figure that stood in front of him. Roach glanced towards them and smiled… Suddenly, Roach fell down, but before his face could hit the floor, he stopped mid-air._

_At the end of the corridor, Yuri stood and held up his palm towards Roach. Soap knew, that the guy was trying to help them._

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><p>"I know, Soap. What if I hadn't run toward him?" asked Ghost. "I tried to save Roach, but it only ended up by Roach being hurt."<p>

"You shouldn't blame yourself! You want to protect your brother…"

"But I failed, Soap!" said Ghost.

"For God sake, Ghost! You're a human! Just like me, Roach, everyone else in that place!" said Soap firmly. "Look, don't blame everything on yourself because there are things that we have no control over. And all that we have to do is just accept it."

They both fell silent. Soap glanced out of the window. MacMillan and Price were gone somewhere. He looked back at Ghost. The boy still held his brother's hand tightly. Like he would never let it go.

* * *

><p>"<em>Get out of my sight!"<em>

_His father's voice rang up from the dining room. A loud crashing sound and the man stormed out the door, slamming the door shut. Same shit different day, Simon watched his father did that again. The ten years old boy quickly ran to the kitchen. Gary was there, on the floor with several bruises on his face and arms. The corner of his mouth was slightly bled and his brown hair was a total mess. Gary smiled at him._

"_Simon… I just wanted to show you this…"_

_The boy pulled out a crumpled paper and showed it to Simon. There's a picture. A well drawn picture of two boys both looked familiar; the smaller one holding the hand of the taller one. They were standing in the middle of a meadow with blue sky above their head. The picture itself was drawn using watercolour paint. Looking at this picture, no one would believe that a nine years old boy was the one who drew it. Simon smiled at his little brother._

"_Dad hit you, didn't he__?" asked Simon._

_Gary hesitated before he answered the question. "I spilled the paint on the kitchen counter. I'll clean it up."_

_Gary stood up and reached for washcloth. He cleaned the counter diligently; Simon quickly grabbed another washcloth and helped his brother. After they finished, Simon pulled his brother towards their shared bedroom and sat him on the bed. Simon pulled out a first-aid kit's box under his bed and cleaned up Gary's wounds._

_Gary looked at his brother's icy-blue eyes, and smiled at him._

"_Simon, I'm okay," said Gary._

"_No, you're not," Simon took out the bandages and band-aid from the box. He cleaned up the wound, gave them antiseptic, and covered them with band-aid and bandages. Gary didn't say anything. He just watched his brother working on his wounds. "Gary, you don't have to hold it."_

"_Holding what?" asked Gary._

_Simon stared at that soft smile. He ruffled Gary's hair. Gary just stared at him with his big brown eyes. Gary was a soft, kind-hearted boy. Gary was the type of the boy who would forgive someone even though they were hurt him or anything. Just like their father or their mother. Gary always found away to forgive them, and after that put the blame for himself. He always put everyone else first, and put himself in the last of the list. Gary's selflessness always amazed Simon under any circumstance. And all that Simon wanted to do is to protect his selfless little brother from any harm. But when he looked at the bruises, it looked like he failed at his duty._

_All that he could do now was to offer some comfort for his little brother._

_Simon pulled Gary into a hug, and spoke to him in a shooting voice._

"_It's okay, if you want to cry, Gary. Cause no matter what happened, I'll always be there for you…"_

* * *

><p>"Mr. Riley, can I talk to you?"<p>

MacMillan stood in the doorway. It had been two hours since they came to the room, and now, MacMillan came, along with Price. Soap looked at Ghost with concern.

"Soap can come too if you want him to," added Price.

Ghost nodded and followed them outside, into an empty room, next to Roach's room. MacMillan pointed two chairs in front of a large table, and he sat on the comfortable leather chair, while Price stood near the door, hiding behind the shadow.

"I have several things that I have to tell you, and it's concerning Mr. Sanderson's condition."

"What is it?" asked Ghost.

"I've been doing this research, focusing on people abilities, especially for those people who possessed Unclassified Ability for many years, Mr. Riley. There's so many things in their ability that is still unknown by human. It's been a common knowledge among the researchers, especially the ones who's focussed on this area, that the Unclassified couldn't live long, because of their ability. The safest Unclassified Ability that we know called Nullification, which a person nullified another person's ability. The owner of this ability died in her thirtieth birthday, because of Cerebrovascular disease which was almost impossible for her.

"As for your brother's ability, Annihilation has a unique pattern to cause death. From what we observed from the latest research, this ability has five stages which included with the development of one's ability. They have the same pattern. In the first stage, Annihilator—that's what we called them—would find a new ability which we called Psychometry, where ones, can read or see the past of an object just by touching it. This ability will get stronger, depends on the usage of Annihilation. But as you already know, the Annihilation shortened one's life-span.

"The second stage would be Precognition, where ones can see the future. It can be like some flash of picture, a dream, or something like that, and also, this ability will get stronger before the Annihilator reach the third stage, which we called Dream-walking. In this state, most of the Annihilator loses their life with different causes; it could be heart-attack, suicide, infection, and so on. One of our subject, reach the fourth stage, with a new ability.

"We called it 'Healing' but it's not just ordinary healing where you touch a person and then he or she will be good as new. It's stronger than that because this 'Healing' can control the flow of life. Even if you're one step from the brink of death, with this ability you can bring them back to life. But this ability has the other side of the coin. It could take another person's life instead of give it. But to use this ability, it needs a lot of energy for one's body. Our subject died, after she reached the last stage known of Annihilation.

"And it's 'Resurrection', where you can bring the dead to live, just like the way they were. But we haven't done much research about it, and it's still an assumption. For these thirty years, there's only five—including your brother—who have the same ability. Four of them died because of their ability which cause dysfunctions of their organs, or mental stress of their mind," MacMillan ended his explanation.

"And what you tried to say is that my brother can die any time soon?" asked Ghost harshly.

"It depends on how many times he use his Ability Annihilation, Mr. Riley," said MacMillan. "Mr. Sanderson just used his ability a few days ago, and it sent him into comatose and from what I've heard from Price, it seems like he successfully Annihilate Rojas' ability. I'm sorry to say it, but if he could live for the next ten years, I'd say it's a miracle. Look, I'm not telling you this to upset you, but I told you because you should know what happened to your brother and you have right to know about it."

"If… If the fifth stage is 'Resurrection'… how could my brother died, then? Isn't that means he could be… I don't know… _Immortal_?" asked Ghost.

"It's just our assumption again, but we believe that it's not how it works. They can resurrect other's life, but they can't resurrect their own. In our theory, we believe that in order to do this, just like 'Healing', they need huge amount of energy, and mental strengths. If we are dead, how are we supposed to do that?" said MacMillan. "But it's just a theory."

Ghost stood up from his chair and started pacing in the room. Soap looked at his friend with a concerned eye. After heard MacMillan's explanation, he couldn't believe that Roach's ability could be very dangerous, not only for other people, but also for Roach himself.

"I've known that Roach's life is in danger since we discovered his ability, but you talked to me, and told me that my brother is dying?" asked Ghost, nearly shouting at MacMillan. "Is there another way to save him?" asked Ghost after his short outburst.

MacMillan didn't answer, but Ghost could tell from his expression. It'd be better if he didn't hear the answer from MacMillan. Ghost stormed out of the room and got himself into Roach's room. He sat on the bedside chair, and held Roach's hand tightly. He tried to hold up his tears. There was no way he would let Roach seeing him cry. For so many years in their life, it was always been Roach who held his tears and always cheerful for Ghost's sake. And Ghost knew, he should be the strong one, in order to protect his little brother. His selfless, kin-hearted, clumsy little brother.

"Ghost…?"

The voice was barely a small whisper, but Ghost heard it and he quickly stared at those tired brown eyes and a small soft smile on the face.

"Roach…" Ghost whispered back.

"Ghost… are you… crying?" asked Roach.

"I… No, no. Of course not. It's just… a little bit sleepy… that's all," said Ghost. He let out a fake yawn.

"Yeah, sure… You're a terrible liar," said Roach.

"How's your feeling?" asked Ghost softly.

"A little bit dizzy. But I'm fine. Thanks, Ghost."

"Anytime," said Ghost. They didn't say a thing for several minutes before Roach started to talk.

"Ghost… Am I… dying?" asked him quietly.

Ghost tried to hold back his tears. No, he shouldn't cry. Not in front of Roach. Not ever.

He couldn't say it. He couldn't tell Roach. Ghost took a deep breath before patted his brother's head softly.

"No, Roach. You're not going to die, because I'm here, remember?" said Ghost. "I'll never let you down. _If you fall, stumble down, I'll pick you up of the ground. If you lose faith in you, I'll give you strength to pull through. Tell me you won't give up, 'cause I'll be waiting if you fall, you know, I'll be there for you_."

Roach smiled.

"Ghost, that's a song lyrics."

"Really?"

"Yup. 'Save You' by Simple Plan," said Roach. Ghost smiled at his little brother.

"I promised that I will protect you. I will be a shield to protect you and a sword to destroy anything who would try to harm you. It'll be okay. Everything's gonna be alright…"

"I hope so, Ghost…"

Ghost smiled, once again at his brother before Roach fell asleep.

There's always hope.

And this time, Ghost would hope for some miracle.

Because it was the only thing that they got.

Hope.

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><p><em>In reality, hope is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs man's torments. <em>

**~Friedrich Nietzsche,****Human, All Too Human****, 1878**

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><p><strong>Before I forgot, the song mentioned in this story is "Save You" by Simple Plan, which means, it's not mine!<strong>

**I'm not sure if I can update this story in this week nor the next week, but I'll try!**

**Pleasepleaseplease leave your review... pleasepleaseplease...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer : I own nothing, except for the plot and my OC, Daniel "Dark" MacKenzie... And also Lieutenant Jayden owns Jayden "D-Day" Black since she's her OC...**

**A/N : Awww... Are you tired of waiting? I know... It's getting hectic in the school since I'm in my senior year (which will be over in one or two months now) that's why I have so much things to prepare since I'm going to university... And also it took me three times to write this chapter up since I kept deleting it and re-write it till I satisfied (but still, I feel like something's missing though)... Anyways, seems like this is the longest chapter so far... Ehehe...**

**Okay, this one is dedicated to my sweet beta-reader; Lieutenant Jayden... The reviewers and the silent reader... and those who put this story in their favorite list (or putting me as one of their favorite author) and so on and so on... Feel free to leave reviews to boost up my spirit and muse!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7 : <strong>**Vive ut Vivas ~****Live so that You May Live~**

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><p><em>Life isn't worth living, unless it is lived for someone else<em>_._

**~Albert Einstein~**

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><p>"<em>What's your name, boy?" asked the man in front of him.<em>

_Yuri glanced up to take a good look of this man's face. Unfortunately, the fedora that he wore was shadowing half of his face. _

"_Yuri," said the boy quietly. "And you are?"_

_The man smiled a bit before patted Yuri's head._

"_My name is..."_

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><p>Yuri snapped back to reality when he heard Kamarov calling his name. He looked up and saw an annoyed look on the teacher's face, as if he was ready to throw the book in his hand. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Ghost stared at him, and Soap tried to say something. By the movement of the other boy's lips, Yuri's brows furrowed when he tried to form the word that Soap wanted to say.<p>

_Panthe..ra... ti...gris_? What...?

"Well... What's the answer, Yuri?" asked Kamarov.

"Ummm... _Panthera tigris_?"

"Good!" said Kamarov. "At least you pay attention to our lesson. Now, class... as you can see..." Kamarov continued his explanation while Yuri let out a sigh and glanced at Soap. He mouthed a silent 'thank you' and smiled a bit. Ghost and Soap gave him thumbs ups and stared at the slide that Kamarov showed.

Yuri got back to his trance mode. It's been awhile since the last time he dreamt about it; that life-changing encounter with that man. He let out a sighed and stared back at his text book. He hoped the bell would ring soon so he wouldn't have to stay in this hell-hole forever. Not that he hates Kamarov, but he wasn't in the mood for study.

"Yuri, you okay?" asked Soap when they finally out of class room.

"I'm good. No need to worry," said Yuri. "Just a little bit dazed off…"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," said Yuri. "I gotta go, now… I'll see you around."

Yuri left them before Ghost and Soap could react. Somehow, Ghost could sense something was wrong with Yuri. But he couldn't tell if it was a good thing or not. But it seemed like Roach trusted this guy. But then again, Roach could even treat a homicidal with a great kindness if he knew that the guy would need his help. It wasn't like Ghost doubted his brother's judgement, but Roach always saw the good side of people and he could easily trust them. Sometimes Ghost was very happy that Roach's pre-cognition would protect him from any harm.

"Do you think he's hiding something, Soap?" asked Ghost.

"I don't know. But people always have something hide, right? Just like you," said Soap. "If you didn't trust me enough, you wouldn't tell me your story."

"Yeah, right," Ghost mumbled. "But when I think about it again, how are we supposed to learn about it?"

"It?"

"His past," said Ghost.

"We barely knew him. It's not like Yuri would spill out his past anytime soon to us," said Soap. "All that we had to do is waiting."

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><p>Derek "Frost" Westbrook was now in his third year, Psychic Division with his ability that called Chronokinesis. As usual, Frost didn't talk much. He kept things to himself. It wasn't like people would gladly talk to him. Most of them would only ignore him. It had been weeks he hadn't attend any of his class and people just forget about him. And as usual, he would spend the rest of his free time, sitting under the willow tree, reading some books until he fell asleep. The teachers understood his strange habits, but as long as he could keep his grade, they would let him skip his class.<p>

But today was different.

When Frost wanted to take his usual spot, there were people who occupied his fortress. A pale, brown-haired boy and someone from his class… Ummm, what was his name? Oh, yeah, Ramirez; the poor puppy that used to follow Foley around. Wonder why he was here with that stranger though…

"That's my spot," said Frost when he approached them. Ramirez and that boy looked at him with a questioning look.

"Hi, Frost," Ramirez greeted. "Guess finally I can find you. I've been searching for you for a couple of weeks. You haven't even met Roach and his brother. Most of people already knew them. Except for you."

"Not interested," said Frost.

"And I guess that's why you liked being alone?" asked the brown-haired boy. "I'm Gary Sanderson. But people call me Roach."

"Really? And I guess that's why people called you Roach cause you're really annoying," said Frost bitterly. The Roach-guy only smiled slightly. "What? Something's wrong?" asked Frost.

"No. It's just… I think you're amusing," said Roach. "You're name is Frost?"

"Derek Westbrook. But people called me Frost," said Frost coldly. "Now, I'd be glad if you leave this place, because you disturb my privacy."

"I'm sorry. But would you like to go to the Main Hall with us? Gaz said he would have some announcement for us," said Roach. "You can meet up with my brother Ghost. How's that sound?" asked Roach kindly.

Frost only raised his eyebrows with no particular interest on his face. This was crazy. No one asked him to lunch together. Not even the-kicked-puppy Ramirez.

However, he accepted the invitation.

* * *

><p>For a few minutes, Ghost already sat in his chair for a while in recreation room. Soap was laid down the coach with an open book in his hand while the other guys were bickering around the first year. He hadn't seen Roach or Ramirez. Probably still on their way here. Gaz already stood up to start speaking when the door burst opened.<p>

"I'm sorry we're late," said Roach. Behind him, there was Ramirez and another guy. He had short dirty blond hair, fair complexion and somehow he wore dark glasses which covered his eyes perfectly. From his expression though, Ghost could guess that he was really pissed off or maybe just plain annoyed.

"It's okay, Roach," said Gaz. He glanced at the new guy and smiled. "It's good to finally see you around, Frost."

"These people drag me here. It's not like I want to attend his stupid meeting," said Frost.

"Whatever, Frost. Now please have a seat."

Roach and Ramirez dragged Frost towards the settee where Ghost sat. Ghost smiled when he looked at his brother and his new friend.

"Hey, Ghost. This is Derek Westbrook, but people called him Frost. He's in the third year, just like me and Ramirez," said Roach. "Frost, meet Simon Riley, my brother. But we called him Ghost."

"Your brother?"

"Half-brother if you have to know..." said Ghost. Alright, he might have to change his opinion about this guy. He was an arse. Total arse. Ghost could see it by the way his face wrinkled each Roach tried to drag him around. But being his selfless persona, Roach always manage to befriend everyone.

"And do you think I care about that?" Frost retorted.

"I don't know what your problem is, but watch your manner. From the way you act, I can conclude that you're an arse," said Ghost.

"I'm not here so that you can insult me. Roach drags me here, and it's not my will to attend this stupid meeting!"

"Shut it, Frost," said Soap. He grinned at the boy.

"Hello, Soap," said Frost. He smiled a bit.

Frost took the farthest seat available and looked at Gaz as he tried to deliver his announcement.

"Okay. Now I'd like to give my announcement," said Gaz. "Tomorrow, the head master agreed to give us some spare time to visit the town!"

Several excited murmurs spread across the room. Soap smiled a bit. It's been a long time since the last time he visited the town. In the last visit he didn't go, since he spent his time with Roach and Ghost in the Task Force 141.

Roach glanced at Ghost. Ghost offered a smile and a glint in his eyes indicated that he was excited too.

"You want to go, Roach?" asked Ghost. "I think it'll be very exciting, yeah?"

"Oh, you guys should go. It'll be fun," said Soap. "Too bad I just missed the last trip though it worth something."

"Why not?" said Roach grinning,

* * *

><p>"Dunn! Griggs! Behave! This isn't a circus! Foley! You better give that back to Ramirez before I kick your sorry ass!" Sandman kept yelling at his students when they get off the bus. It was getting on his nerve. Damn! He was just one man, tried to make a bunch of over-excited kids in check of their surroundings and behaved like a human-being. "Gaz!"<p>

"Yes, Sir?" Gaz appeared from the bus with his cap in his hand.

"I want you to be in charge for a certain group which consists of both Dunn and Foley," said Sandman.

"What? I thought I was free of duty for today…" said Gaz surprised. "I mean… Isn't it a school trip? Why do I have to babysit them? What's the worst thing that they can do anyway?"

Right after the question, Gaz could hear some yell and laugh came from the distance and he could see that Foley and Dunn started to picking up on Sarah Davis by pulling her pony tail like a four years old children. Gaz groaned. They're in the fourth year, for God sake! Sandman stared at Gaz from his sunglasses and raised his eyebrows.

"I'm on it," said Gaz.

Sandman watched him took off while he tried to kept the students in order.

"Quite busy, yeah?" a familiar voice greeted his ears. Sandman smiled when he saw Nikolai coming out of his car.

"Hi, Nikolai. Haven't seen you in the Academy lately. Doing your field work?"

"Something like that. Price ordered me to do a few task in several places. Good things I don't have to worry much about transportation," said Nikolai. "I haven't see Price though. I tried his office, but he wasn't there. You have any idea?"

"Probably in charge for watch the trip. Somewhere around the town," said Sandman. "These kids need a lot of man power…"

"Haha, sure…" said Nikolai. "I need to find Price to give my report. I'll see you around, Sandman."

With that, Nikolai took his leave while Sandman glanced towards all direction to make sure that the students wouldn't do anything stupid. Carefully he glanced at the group of fourth year students that he knew quite well. There was this boy, MacTavish and Ramirez (although he was in the third year). Also he could see the other three new students. Riley, Yuri and Sanderson. He didn't know much about Sanderson or Yuri but as far as he could tell, Riley was a very gifted student. In his whole career the only person in Elemental Division that he thought might have the talent was MacTavish.

After the last group managed to leave the rendezvous point, Sandman glanced at his clock and thought that it was time to patrol around the city. Just to make sure that no one would use their ability in front of the civilians.

* * *

><p>"<em>Yuri… Are you okay?" asked the man in front of him. He just met the man, but he already change Yuri's world. With this man, he could be himself, and he didn't have to hide his power. Or his "gift" as the man would like to say.<em>

_Yuri just shrugged. Actually, his not okay, but wouldn't let this man knew about it. Heck, he had to hide it well._

"_You will let me to check it?" asked the man again._

"_No. I'm fine. Just a little… tired…" said Yuri. Being with this man had taught him how to hide his mind really well. That was one of the advantages. The man only raised his eyebrow and continuing what he was doing before._

_Yuri could feel his stomach felt weird._

* * *

><p>"Yuri… What's wrong?" asked Roach when they stopped at a music store. Right now, Ghost was scanning the Rock Section of the store while Soap was trying to find something "old". Roach, Yuri and Ramirez stood in front of the bunch of Eminem's new album while Roach absentmindedly going through the pile. "You look distant."<p>

"I'm sorry. It's just… I have something in my mind…"

"Care to share?" asked Roach.

"Later," said Yuri. "So uh… You're Eminem's fan?"

"Oh? Ah… well… not really," said Roach. "I thought Ghost would like it. He loves everything without 'crying and whining music' though…" Roach smiled. "Well, maybe for birthday then."

Ghost had took his decision and glanced at Soap. Soap himself just smiled and showed him the CD that he bought. Ghost recognized it as a song that the older people would listening to from their gramophone while having a tea in the garden. Well, he couldn't blame it though. From the corner of his eyes, Ghost could see Roach still talking to Yuri while Ramirez was looking at the track list of a CD.

They paid for their CDs and once again hit the road. Roach said something about wanting to go to a book store. They quickly found one. Within a second, Roach was already absorbed at started to scanning through the books. He discussed the book with Ramirez excitedly. Yuri walked to the sport corner and reaches out for a magazine. Ghost followed his suit while Soap chose to go to the biography section.

"I see you're getting attached to Roach," said Ghost smiled. Yuri glanced at his direction.

"It's hard not to," said Yuri. "I think he had some kind of ability to make people attached to him. Are you sure that isn't the part of his ability?"

"Not what I'm aware of," said Ghost. "It's just his selfless persona who makes everyone like him. Hell, even that little bastard Frost seemed aware of this ability; giving him a hard time to resist Roach's Friend-Making pheromone."

They talked about the other stuffs casually while Roach paid for his purchases (two novels, one non-fiction, and some comics). Ramirez already hide his nose behind the book, seemed enjoy it much. They decided to wander around the town before decided the place for lunch.

"How about we go to Hornet's Nest?" asked Soap. "That's a good place to get our lunch."

"Okay, sure," said Ghost. "On your six."

They walked down the street and turn at a small corner. The café was stood between two buildings. The wall was blue with a large window and homey feeling. In the front of the café, there was this girl, with mix-brown hair working on a bike. Soap smiled a bit when he saw her and greeted her in a cheerful voice.

"Hello, D-Day!"

D-Day lifted her head and smiled brightly at Soap. Ghost could notice her eyes. _Heterochromia iridium_. This woman had different colour of eyes. One is piercing blue and the other one is forest green. Quite combination.

"Hello, Soap. Hi, James!"

"Hello, D-Day."

"And these are…?"

"Gary Sanderson, but you can call me Roach," said Roach. "This is my half-brother Simon Riley, you can call him Ghost, and this is Yuri."

"Jayden Black," said the woman smiling brightly. "But you can call me D-Day."

"Are everyone's already here?" asked Soap. "They told to wait here though."

"You mean Archer? They just left a few minutes ago with Deadly and Sarah. Gaz were here with Foley, Dunn and Griggs. You wanna get your lunch? Dark just cooked something special for new dish. You want some?" asked D-Day.

"Sure. Why not?"

Soap led the way and they get into the café; just like the outside of the café, the homey feeling inside was quite strong and comfortable. There were several booths for privacy, a counter and small tables around the place. They walked towards the nearest booth from the counter and Soap reached out for the menu. He gave them slight reference of the foods and told them which one was very good and which one was ordinary. D-Day came and filled them in with the contents of their new dish and Gary quickly ordered one. Soap grinned and ordered the same menu, while Ghost chose the menu from the list. Yuri read the menu quickly and ordered his food and drinks. D-Day smiled and walked back to the counter, where a dark haired man stood behind the cash machine.

"So, what's your impression of this town Yuri?" asked Soap.

Yuri glanced and smiled at Soap. "This town was great. It is a good thing that Ramirez could show us a very good store that sell several items that I might need."

"And what's that? I was pretty sure you sneak off when we stopped at the gifts store," said Ghost.

"Well, actually it's the only place that sells those items here," said Ramirez, taking a sip of his lemon tea.

"It is?"

"I tried to find a certain type of watch. A unique pocket watch to send it to someone," said Yuri. "Guess it's pretty hard to find one though."

"Your… parents?" asked Ramirez.

Yuri let out a slight chuckled and shook his head. "No. They're dead. It's to someone else. And if I get lucky, I could send it before we get back to the Academy."

While they chatted for a little while, the café's door opened and three young men came in. One of them is a friendly-looking African-American. Behind him, there were a slightly pale man with a spirited aura surrounded him and a lazy-looking guy with a dark brown hair. When Ramirez saw them he threw a smile at them and waved his hand. The pale man nudged his friends and jerked his head. They waved back at Ramirez. Saw Ramirez gestures, Soap glanced at the door.

"Meat! Worm! Royce!" said him. "How're you doing?"

"Hey, Soap! I thought we only see the lil' Ramirez over here," said Worm, the African-American guy.

"It's good to see you free from Foley, Ramirez," said the pale man, Meat. "And I think I saw some new faces here… Or two faces and one skull-balaclava. Right, Royce?"

"Yeah," said Royce, or mumbled to be exact.

"This is Ghost and his brother Roach, and this is Yuri," said Soap. "These are Meat, Worm and Royce. They're the same as us," Soap said towards the Ghost, Roach and Yuri.

"It's nice to meet you. Want to join our table?" asked Roach kindly.

"Sure, why not?" said Worm. They added more chairs since the table didn't have enough. D-Day came out with their foods and greeted the three additions with her usual smile. Worm, Royce and Meat made their orders and once again, D-Day quickly disappeared to the kitchen.

They talked for awhile when once again the door was open and a familiar figure walked into the room. Roach smiled when he recognized the face, but Ghost only grunted in discomfort. Meat, Royce and Worm also glanced towards the door and shouting a name when they realized who it was.

"Hi, Frost!"

"What're you doing here, buddy?"

"You're late!"

Frost walked to their table and looked very displeased with Ghost. But he chose to ignore it and stared at three men before him.

"And what the hell are you guys doing with _them_?" asked Frost coldly.

"Watch it, kiddo. It's not your place to order me around," said Worm. "And from what I can see, they're a great company here. Why don't you join us?"

Roach looked at him with his best puppy-dog eyes and Frost let out a sigh. Why he couldn't say no?

Frost took a seat as far as he could from Ghost. The other boy tried not to look at his direction; instead he was having some serious talk to Yuri and Ramirez. Frost sneered and called D-Day for his order. Instead, the dark haired man from the counter appeared.

"Hey, Dark. Can I order now?" asked Frost grinning.

"Sure," said Dark.

"O-kay," Frost gave his order why Dark jotted it down. After he finished, Dark left the table without another words. Roach looked at the man curiously. He nudged Ramirez and asked him quietly,

"Who's that?"

"Him? He's the owner of this café, along with D-Day. His name is Daniel MacKenzie, but we called him Dark," said Ramirez. "I wonder how she didn't bother him though…" said Ramirez absentmindedly.

"Who?"

"Oh… not D-Day, but the woman who always following him. The one with wedding dress and dark hair… She used to be clingy with Dark. See? Now she tried to hug him from behind…"

"Who are you talking about, James?" asked Roach. "I didn't see anybody."

"Ah, sure, my bad. You can't see her. Sorry."

They talked for a little while before they finished all their meals and decided to wait until it's time for them to leave.

* * *

><p>"<em>Yuri… Yuri… Where are you?" the woman kept calling his name.<em>

_Yuri looked up and smiled brightly at the woman. "You're home!"_

"_Do you miss me, Sweety? I'm sorry… But don't worry, after I finish my job here, we can go back to Russia. Sounds good?" the woman hugged him tightly and little Yuri giggled when he felt the red hair of the woman so soft on his palm._

"_Mommy, I'm so glad you're here… I miss you…"_

"_Now, now… I need to make a call. You stay here, okay?"_

_Yuri nodded. The woman chuckled before she made her phone call._

* * *

><p>Yuri woke up from his sleep. He shot up from his bed before noticing his surroundings. From his place, he could see three sleeping figures which already familiar for him. Roach sleep in the bed next to him while Ghost and Soap occupied another two beds across the room. It had been several days since Gaz told him to move his things to Soap's room since Archer's room couldn't held six people and they agreed with the arrangement.<p>

Yuri reached out for a glass of water which he kept on his nightstand every day and took a sip of the cold water. Now he was afraid of falling asleep.

* * *

><p><em>The phone ringing and Yuri quickly ran downstairs and picked up the phone.<em>

"_Hello?" he greeted carefully._

"_Yu..ri?"_

"_Mom?"_

"_God! It's… good… to hear your… voice… after these months…" his mother's voice sounds trembled. Yuri could guess that something bad was happening._

"_Mom, what's wrong?" asked Yuri concerned._

"_Nothing… Sweety. I just… wanted… to hear… your… voice…"_

"_Mom… Is something bad happening?" he was panic. Panic that he could do nothing. He stuck in their house in Russia, while his mother, thousand miles away talked to him with a trembling voice that could make anyone concerned. Heck! He wasn't concerned anymore! It's just what the hell happened to his mother?_

"_Ssshhh… It's nothing…. Sweety, really… I just want to say… I… love you… And I always…. Care about… you…" she stopped for awhile, seemed like to catch her breath. "I'm… sorry… I can't… make the promise… to go with you… coming home… to Russia… I'm sorry, Yuri…"_

"_Mom… please…" he couldn't stop his tears. He couldn't. God… He wishes he were there with his mother!_

"_Sweety… Thank you for… the life that… you gave to me… You… are… the… reason… that… make me… want to live… this… life…" said his mother from the phone. "Live, Yuri… Live… so that… you… may… live…"_

* * *

><p><strong>AN : Ahahaha... this is me again... well yeah... ummmm... feel free to review! but pleasepleasepleaseplease leave a review... I reaally need some review to keep my spirit up!**_  
><em>


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer : I own nothing except the plot, and I do own my OC named Daniel "Dark" MacKenzie. Jayden "D-Day" Black belongs to my sweet beta-reader Lieutenant Jayden.**

**A/N : Okaaaaayyyy... This is a veeerrrryyy late update. I know, I know. It's not about writer's block or anything. It's more because I'm preparing for my final (which is due on Monday until Thursday). Is there someone who want to hear me rambling? Anyway... I'd like to give some warning before. This chapter will contain some child abuse (yeah, right) and... hmm... I dunno. **

**Before I close this A/N session, I'd like to remind you that until June or August (I think June) I will attend intensive class for university entrance's exams, so I think I can't update till August (but I'll try though). Remember, I won't abandon this story (even if I have to drag my lazy ass from my comfy bed in order to write some).**

**And this chapter is dedicated to my lovely beta-reader Lieutenant Jayden, for the reviewers, and also for those who put this on your story alert or favorite story... and for the silent readers... THIS IS FOR YOU GUYS!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8 : <strong>**Praeteritum ~The Past~**

* * *

><p><em>There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past.<em>_  
><em>**George Carlin**

* * *

><p>Ghost woke up in the morning, staring at the now familiar ceiling above him. It was morning, and it was weekend which means, he had more time to relax and just enjoyed his day. At least that was what he thought. Probably something unexpected might happen again. And it won't be that fun. Ghost sighed and walked towards the bathroom. Roach, Soap and Yuri were sleeping soundly. Ghost glanced towards the clock on his nightstand and realized that it was just five o'clock and he already woke up. He sighed and got into the bathroom.<p>

After taking a shower and putting on his long-sleeved t-shirt, Ghost tried to find his balaclava in his drawer. Suddenly, someone approached him and asked him in a hoarse voice.

"Who the bloody hell are you?"

Ghost glanced towards the sound. His icy blue eyes stared at another pair of blue eyes. Soap stood there, still in his pyjamas and threw a suspicious look at Ghost. Dark-brown hair, fair skin and the big scar across his jaw… Soap couldn't recognize him. Especially since he just woke up and he didn't even bother to open his eyes wider.

"Answer me before I burn you down!"

"Come on, Soap, it's me. It's Ghost," said Ghost calmly. He needed to find his balaclava before Soap decided to burn the room in the fire because he thought Ghost was an imposter.

"Huh?" he blinked. Twice. His sight came to focus and now, he could see the familiar blue eyes and familiar posture. "Ghost?" he asked, only to be certain.

"Yeah, mate. I need to find my balaclava first," said Ghost roaming through his drawer. He cursed when he couldn't find one. Come on! He couldn't go around without his balaclava! He would feel naked and exposed. For Ghost, not wearing his balaclava would be like running around with underwear and nothing else. That was why he needed to find it quick.

"I never saw you without your balaclava before…" said Soap. "I mean, I'm starting to think the balaclava is your face so you couldn't take it off…"

"Geez, Soap. Help me find it!" Ghost groaned. Now he was ruffling through Roach's stuffs since usually, Roach would keep several balaclavas with him in case Ghost couldn't find his. "Gotcha!"

He pulled out grey coloured balaclava with skull pattern and put it on. For a final touch, Ghost reached up and took his dark red glasses and put it on. Now he looked like his usual self. He glanced at Soap with a questioning look on his face.

"What're you doing wake up so early?" asked Ghost.

"Can't sleep anymore. Guess I'm gonna take a shower. You want to head down for breakfast? Though I'm not sure they're ready this early," said Soap.

"I'll just wait for you, and then we can go downstairs and see what we can do," said Ghost.

As Soap went to the bathroom (yes, each room had their own bathroom) Ghost reached out for his CD player, put on his headphones and turned it on. For awhile, he let the sound of the rock music filled his ears. He sang along with it occasionally until Yuri woke up and glared at him.

"Dammit, Ghost! Stop coughing! You disturb my sleep!"

After that, he went back to the dream world.

* * *

><p>Roach walked towards their table at the Main Hall and smiled brightly at his brother and Soap.<p>

"Morning guys!" he greeted happily. "Yuri should be down here soon. What's for breakfast?"

"Eggs, bacon, toast," said Soap.

Roach took his seat next to Ghost with his tray of breakfast.

"So, got something good to do for today?" asked Ghost to Roach. Certainly they got nothing better to do.

"Ah, I forgot to mention it, but actually today TF-141 had a meeting in the club house. And since you guys are official members of the club, I should bring you along to the meeting," said Soap. "The meeting would start at ten. We still got one and half an hour though."

They finished their breakfast when Yuri showed up and told them that he had something to do in the library. He quickly got his breakfast and took off to the library while Roach, Ghost and Soap started their way to the club house. They walked slowly, and then Ramirez decided to join them. They chatted along the way until their reach the front door of the club house. Price and Gaz were standing and talking at the front door quietly until Gaz shook his head and walked inside the club house.

"Morning, Mr. Price," Ramirez greeted him happily.

"Good morning, Ramirez."

They got into the meeting room. There were several chairs, puffs, and settee inside that room and most of them were already taken. They walked up to the farthest couch and took a seat while watching the meeting.

"Is that D-Day?" asked Roach when he saw that girl, wearing her usual shirt and her grey sweatpants looked as happy as usual with nothing different.

"Yup, that's her," answered Soap. "She's one of us. She works at the facility in her free-time, and this time, I'm pretty much sure that she has something important to say to us, since she isn't usually showing up in our meeting."

"The only time she showed up was when she needs to find out who broke into her café though," said Ramirez.

"Yeah, but in the end, we knew that it was a dangerous psychopath with ability!" said Soap. "It _was_ important!"

During the meeting, D-Day didn't speak at all. She only spoke with Price. Gaz led the meeting as always while they listened half heartedly to what Ghost was saying. It was mostly about their none-existent activities. Now he tried to convince them to think about an activity, at least one activity, but unfortunately, twelve heads of the member couldn't come out with a single good idea. Gaz let out a sighed and talked about something else.

After the meeting, D-Day walked up to Ghost who chatted with Soap.

"Hey Ghost. Can I have a word with you?" she asked quietly. Ghost glanced toward Soap, when the other boy gave him a nod and joined Roach and Ramirez; Ghost followed D-Day to the meeting room which was now empty. At one of the couch, Price sat there and stared at Ghost calmly while D-Day stood by the door way and watched them with her mis-matched eyes carefully.

"Have a seat," said Price. "MacMillan would be here anytime soon."

"MacMillan? Does this have something to do with Roach?" asked Ghost concerned. He couldn't help it if Price would choose this time to tell him about Roach's condition. It was enough. The last time they did, Roach was asked him if he was dying. He lied of course. Or at least he hoped it was the truth.

"It is," said Price. "Jayden already knew about your condition, since she and Daniel is MacMillan's second-in-command. And we need to talk about something important."

"Ah… okay, sure."

* * *

><p>Yuri stopped middle track from the library. After a while, he glanced at the Main Hall and saw Roach came up to him. The boy waved slightly and Yuri waved back at him. He approached Roach who was now stood a few feet away from him. Usually, he would see Ghost, Soap or Ramirez around him, but today, it's just he himself as he walked down the steps in front of the Main Hall.<p>

"Hi, Yuri," he greeted brightly. "Where're you going?"

"Hi. I was thinking about going to the Centre Garden for a little nap. I could use some sunlight though," said Yuri smiled slightly at his friend.

"Mind if I joined you?" asked Roach.

"Sure, why not?"

They walked to the Centre Garden while having a little chat. Yuri talked about his house in Russia and how he lived with his grandfather until he moved and left his grandfather in Russia. But up until now, they hadn't talk about how he could end up in the Academy. All that Roach knew was Price found him and brought him in just like what he did to Roach and Ghost.

"I lived in this town for quite awhile, but it's been years ago. The town was changed so much and I can't even recognize the places and streets anymore. After that, I moved to Russia to live with my grandfather there until I received the news that my mother died. I moved again," said Yuri. "How about you?"

"Ah, well… I lived with my parents and my brother Ghost in a small town," said Roach quietly. "After several problems, we ended up here."

Yuri raised his eyebrows.

"You're not going to tell me much about your past, are you?" asked Yuri.

"I'm sorry but that's not a gleeful past that I would tell you about," said Roach. "There are things that I don't want to remember."

"It's fine. I'm okay with that. To tell you the truth, I used to meet my mother quite often until she decided to work and always left me on my own. But each time, she called me she always said how much she wanted to be with me and so on. I think that's the best I could have in my past," said Yuri. "Her phone calls always make me happy, but the last really broke my heart."

"I'm sorry."

"No problem," said Yuri. "Until now, it's hard to imagine that she wasn't here…"

* * *

><p>MacMillan knocked at the door, waiting for D-Day to open the door for him. On the couch, he could see Price sat there calmly and Simon Riley sat in another settee across the room. D-Day stood next to the door, as if trying to block any escape routes or anyone who tried to get inside. He could see the scarred knuckles clenched at her sleeve tightly and her facial expression was quite stiff. MacMillan couldn't see her warm smile or joyful expression on her face this time.<p>

"Good to see you, Son," said MacMillan when Ghost glanced up at him. Ghost nodded. MacMillan took a seat next to Price and stared at Ghost. "Do you know why am I here and talking to you?"

"Probably about Roach. You got a bad news, am I right?" asked Ghost.

"No. You would tell me some news," said MacMillan. "I have a few questions that I wanted you to answer honestly. This is very important, not only for you or your brother, but for the sake of this Academy."

"Okay. Shoot."

MacMillan glanced towards Price, and he nodded.

"How did your parents die?"

* * *

><p>"I never know how she died," said Yuri. "She called me with a trembling voice... and told me to live my life..." he stared at his book with a blank eye. Why'd he talk about this with Roach? It's not like he used to going around and bragging about his pitiful life. But somehow, just with his presence, Yuri knew that he could trust Roach with his past. Not that he had a really bad past though. From the way Roach didn't want to talk about his past, Yuri could imagine something awful had happened. And he kept thinking about what might happen to these brothers. Roach was very friendly and sure he was very selfless. As for Ghost, Yuri could recognize him as a protective big brother, especially towards Roach. It's like he would moved the sun and the moon if it would make Roach happy.<p>

"You really loved your mother?" asked Roach. His brown eyes stared into Yuri's grey one.

"So much. Even though we didn't have much time to spend with each other. Mom was always busy with her job and she used to live me with my grandfather. He was the only relative that we have. Mom never talked about my father. Guess she didn't want to remember him or something…" said Yuri smiled slightly. "How about you, Roach? Your mother?"

Roach sighed. He stared at the blue sky from the Centre Garden.

* * *

><p><em>The smell of alcohol filled the room. Through the smoky air, Gary could see a familiar presence of that woman. His mother. As usual, she sat there, only wore a black tank top and a short which barely covered her tight. Her dirty blond hair was totally a mess and her makeup was ruined pretty badly. Gary stepped into the room carefully to retrieve his soft pastels from the counter top. From the state of his mother, Gary could replay the scene that might happen last night.<em>

"_What do you want?" she asked him in her hoarse voice, full with disgust._

"_I… I just wanted to… take my soft pastels…" said Gary quietly. He didn't dare to look up and see anger in his mother's face._

"_DAMMIT BRAT! You shouldn't let your things scattering all over this house! You should be glad that I still want to buy you those shit! It's expensive as hell! You should be grateful, that your brother cared enough for you even if you worth nothing!" she shouted angrily._

"_I'm sorry, Mother…"_

"_SORRY? Do you think your sorry would give everything back? You ruined my life!" she stood up, a little bit tipsy, but she could manage to stand still and glared at Roach as if she ready to burn a hole in his skull. "You just a piece of shit… Like your goddamn father! He was just like you. Sucking up at people to make them think how a good person you are, but I'm not that stupid, brat! I'm smarter than that!"_

_Roach couldn't say anything. He just stood there, didn't dare to look up and see his mother's face._

_His mother stormed out of the room, shoved him aside causing his back bumped into the counter with a loud thud. He fell, feeling the hurt started spreading all over his body._

* * *

><p>"They were killed," said Ghost emotionless. He stared into two pairs of eyes and he could felt the third pair watched his back carefully.<p>

"But who killed them?" asked MacMillan.

Ghost was glad that his balaclava and dark-red sunglasses covering his face. If it wasn't there, he was sure that now he would sweating and unease.

"Does it really matter?" Ghost stared at MacMillan's face. "Talking about it won't make any different!"

Ghost was very angry right now. He didn't want to talk about his parents. Hell, he didn't even want to remember them. They ruined his life. Roach's life. Roach had enough pain and he didn't want to add more to him by letting these people digging deeper into their past. Not like this.

"Why don't you tell us, Ghost?" asked Price. "Who killed them?"

Ghost took a deep breath and looked up to their faces. He wanted to forget about it. He didn't want to remember it. Not after so much pain that Roach had to going through. Not like this… No…

"Ghost?"

"It's my father," said Ghost quietly. "My father killed mum before he killed himself."

MacMillan rose up his eyebrows and stared at Ghost. As if he could read the truth through Ghost's mind and revealed it under the sun light. Ghost avoided his glance and chose to stare at his palm. MacMillan nodded hearing Ghost's answer but he didn't seem satisfied with it. There were so many holes in the story and MacMillan could guess that Ghost was just lying to them. Because there was no way that man could kill his wife like that.

"The cause of their dead was because all their organs stopped working at the same time, including their brains, _instantly_. As far as we know, there's not much way to kill someone this way. There's no bullet wound, stab wound or any harmful wound on their body. Neither blunt force trauma or anything," explained MacMillan calmly. "And we all know what's it that could make such a dead is."

"What? She was poisoned," said Ghost sternly.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You lied to us," said MacMillan. "I have X-Ray Vision. I could tell."

"How?"

"I can see your heart beating faster, adrenaline; you're sweating a lot…" MacMillan smiled. "I can see you are trying so hard to hide your past."

"I don't want you to dig any further into our past," said Ghost coldly.

"Then you would like to tell me who killed your parents? Or should I ask Fulani to ask you?"

Fulani and his ability of persuasion. Not exactly what he needed right now. Up until now, Ghost still didn't get the way to break Fulani's ability. There was no way he could tell MacMillan what did happen that night.

"Come on, Son. We need some answer," said MacMillan. "Don't make us force it out of you because it'll be too damn easy and it will hurt much more. All you have to do is tell us, and we will not judge you. We just need the fact to pull some string together."

Damn it! Ghost knew he had to tell them. But can he really knew, what will they do after they learn about the fact?

"I…" before Ghost could answer; the door burst open, even made D-Day stunned for a second. Roach stood there, panting heavily as the sweats covered his face. He looked into the room and stared at MacMillan and Price. D-Day walked up to stop him from getting any further into the room but Price stopped her with a small hand gesture. D-Day did. Ghost turned around and saw his brother stepped into the room.

"Roach…" said Ghost quietly.

Roach smiled kindly. "You don't have to lie to them, Ghost. They need to know."

"But…"

"It's okay," said Roach. His feet started to shake; he didn't have much more strength to support his weight as he stood. Ghost jumped up from his chair and quickly supported Roach's weight, so that he won't fell down and hit the floor. Roach stared at MacMillan's face with his brown orbs and spoke as clear as his condition permit him to,

"I killed them."

* * *

><p><em>Simon left his bedroom after he finished his homework. Gary sat on his bed with a sketch book and pencil in his hand; concentrated on each line that he pulled carefully. For a while, Simon hesitated to go downstairs and grabbed something to eat for Gary. Simon knew Gary hadn't eaten since last night and Simon didn't have a chance to sneak out some food for his brother. He didn't dare to risk any chances and caused Gary more harm from their parents. Simon didn't want to give any chance for his so-called parents to beat the light out of Gary. He couldn't stand the sight of bruises on Gary's face and body. It hurt him so much.<em>

"_Gary, you want something to eat? Mum and Dad aren't home today…" said Simon. "I can grab you something downstairs."_

"_Sure, Simon," said Gary. "I'll go with you though."_

"_Okay."_

_Simon watched as his brother limping towards the door. The broken bone of his legs hadn't healed. Once again, the masterpiece of their father and his baseball bat. Fortunately Gary and Simon could manage to keep the injuries at minimum._

_When they reached the kitchen, Simon decided to get something to drink as well. He went to the basement where he knew his mother would keep some cola for her friends if they didn't want to get drunk. But most of the time they chose alcohol instead of some cans of cola; only Gary and Simon who drank it without their parents known. Gary kept heading down the kitchen while trying to find something to eat in the refrigerator._

_He didn't realize someone already stood behind him._

"_WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"_

_Gary freeze for a moment before suddenly, fear overwhelmed him. He just stood there, frightened by the presence of his drunk mother who glared intensely at him._

"_I-I'm s-sorry…" he whispered._

"_YOU LITTLE SHIT! The fuck do you think you're doing with my things? What did you take?"_

"_I-I didn't… I…" the lump in his throat made him unable to produce a sentence._

_And then, his biggest fear came. His father and that baseball bat, grinning wickedly at him. Gary could smell the alcohol. The disgusting smell that made him wanted to throw up, even though he had nothing in his stomach._

"_Come on, you worthless fuck head," his father hissed while grabbed his shoulder and drag him to the back yard._

_When he heard Gary's piercing scream and his parents distant shout and insults, Simon ran towards the back yard. He stared at the most frightening scene in his life, where his father held that bloody bat and his mother… God… his mother held out a kitchen knife… her bloodshot eyes… As if she was ready to stab anyone… NO!_

"_STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM HIM!" Simon shouted angrily. His mother turned around and gave him a wicked smile which sent chill to his back… God… "GARY!"_

"_My, my, Simon…" said his mother, "Would you just shut up and be a good boy? I need to teach this piece of shit one or two lessons…" she looked at her kitchen knife and grinning like a maniac. "But if you want to join us, feel free…"_

_Simon ran towards his brother, as Gary could only stared at him. Simon crouched next to him, tried to protect Gary from their parents, even if he had to use his power… But a rough hand grabbed his shoulder and with one tug, Simon was crashing into the fence. He was wondering why no one heard them… His back was burning and his sight got blurry. Probably because the crash and concussion in his head._

"_Gary…" he whispered softly._

_Their father lifted up the bat and started to beat Gary's fragile figure. Simon could hear him screamed and sobbed… beg them to stop…_

_Gary stared at the knife in his mother hand. She walked slowly towards him. Her dirty blonde hair now was a total mess giving her a psycho look. No… no… please… stop…_

_She lifted the knife and swung it. Gary closed his eyes and tried to cover his body…_

_The blue ray flashed as the sound of wind blows filled the air._

_Two bodies fell down to the earth with no sign of life in them. Gary could see Simon ran towards him before the darkness covered him._

* * *

><p>"I killed them," said Roach once again.<p>

"It's my fault. I shouldn't go to the basement, I shouldn't let you took the dinner alone, hell, I shouldn't go out of the room that night just to get something to eat…" said Ghost. "I shouldn't…"

Roach's tired eyes looked into Ghost's icy blue ones and he offered a peaceful smile to his brother.

"It's not your fault, Simon. I'm the one who killed them with my ability," said Roach. "It isn't your fault. I'm the one to blame…"

"NO! It's not…!"

Price watched them quietly. D-Day came back with two glasses of water and put it on the table. He remembered the day when he retrieved two of them from a crappy foster house in the remote area. They weren't in a good condition. He haven't heard the complete story, this is the first time he heard it. From both Roach and Ghost directly.

"Is there anyone knows about this?" asked MacMillan.

"Only Soap," said Ghost. "I told him, because Roach told me to and we think it's okay…"

"And in that time you already aware of Roach's ability? The consequence? That his life span would get shorter each time he used his ability?" asked MacMillan again. "How?"

Ghost smiled.

"Not only Roach's, but also mine. I even learnt how to control it, even though it isn't perfect yet. I knew Roach could die anytime that he also had Psychometry and Precognition, nut I don't know how he got those two abilities," said him. "There's a man, whom I considered as our own father since he used to raise us when we couldn't stand our parents' presence at home. We used to sneak out and talked to him."

"Did this man have ability?" asked Price.

"Used to," said Ghost. "But Gary accidentally Annihilate it. His power was telepathy. He could read minds and even he could tell one's past."

"Who is he, Ghost?' asked Price. "What is his name?"

Ghost blinked behind his sunglasses and said the name quietly,

"Makarov. His name is Vladimir Makarov."

* * *

><p><strong>AN : Kolkolkol... Ahahaha... read and review, da? Pleasepleaseplease... :D**

**Oh yeah, please WISH ME LUCK FOR MY FINALS... :D**


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